Declining and Falling
BY J. GRIMOND, MP RE we, in politics, going the way. of France? The sus- picion must have struck many people besides myself. From time to time it is fanned by some incident or reaction.
You remember the celebrated article in the Daily Telegraph of January 3, the one which stirred up all the bother? It was a well-reasoned criticism of the Government. It criticised its acts and policies on evidence which it produced. It was not full of personalities, hints and improbable speculations. In fact it was just the kind of serious essay about political trends that ought to be available to the public, but all too often is not.
Apparently, however, it could not be believed that the Daily Telegraph minded what the Government did. No, it was a stab in Eden's back : Society hostesses had met 'and condemned him. The Editor was pro-Butler; the Assistant Editor was running Macmillan. The Daily Telegraph was backing a gang of backbenchers already curling their moustaches in revolt. That was only one instance of what I would call Prenchifica- don.' The trivial and the personal make news. The serious must be reduced to trivial and personal terms. What was the importance of Bulganin and Khrushchev's visit? Why, the Labour. Party dinner, of course. And why did it matter? Because it downed Gaitskell and upped someone else, or raised the Prime Minister's prestige five points on the Gallup poll.
There is less and less effort to deal with policies in today's political news and commentaries. Look at the gallons of ink expended on tracing the supposed personal vendettas between Bevanites and anti-Bevanites, and indeed among Bevanites themselves, compared with the meagre attempts to explain the origins or aims of Tevanism.' Take the story of the present Government. The situation has worsened in Cyprus, Singa- pore and Aden. We are about _to embark on an experiment in Malta for which the main argument is that no one can think of anything else to do. All this may not be the fault of the Colonial Secretary, who is indeed an able man and a Commonwealth enthusiast; but it isn't a very good advertisement for the policy which he administers. There is far more concern about Lennox- Boyd's personal stock, which is said to be rising, than about the nervelessness of our colonial policy. Black clouds hang over industry, unbroken by any light on such things as the im- mobility of labour or the refusal to allow Italians to work in the pits. Yet Mr. Macleod is much praised. The record of the Home Office swings between obscurantism and incompetence —over heroin, Casement's diaries and Cypriot priests. There is no poPular move, however, to overhaul our methods of deal- ing with such matters. On the other hand, the army has been discharging its duties with success. Whatever may be thought of our decisions in the wider fields of defence, in which he can have only a minor voice, Mr. Head can surely take his share of credit for the conduct of our troops in Kenya and Cyprus. That does not prevent his appearance in the tumbril of demotion being confidently expected. Too many political commentators and reporters are determined to see a perpetual and violent see-saw of personalities going up and down for the most super- ficial reasons : an applauded Parliamentary speech, a 'firm' action or a well-timed comment on smoking or automation— however pointless. It is of the nature of political speculation. as it is of the Stock Exchange, to exaggerate. The Prime Minister was down and out in January. Everyone knew then that he would be a hero in May. Sure enough he was. But why, it would be difficult to say.
This impression of 'Frenchificution' may be due to the political news we get. Ninety per cent. of political information comes through television and headlines. Comparatively few people read the exceedingly well-informed leaders in the, daily papers or the articles of the professional lobby correspondents. The result is that the popular view of politics is distorted. The political world is not entirely concerned with cut-throat competition between personalities and trivial sensations. It is to some extent a misleading picture painted to appeal to a strip-cartoon-minded public.
To some extent; but not entirely misleading. After all. these political reporters and commentators arc themselves part of politics, many of them are MPs. The picture is too nearly true to be merely amusing. We are in danger of following the French into a world where political moves are too often settled by intrigue, or at least, what is almost as bad, are thought by the public to be so settled. The fact that in France intrigue more often takes place between parties and here within parties, doesn't essentially matter.
And with personalities and intrigue we see, as in France, the growing impotence of government and Parliament and the divorce of politics from 'real' life. The Government itself glories in proclaiming that it can't stop inflation but that the trade unions can. Though everyone knows Ministers could stop it tomorrow if they were prepared to face the cost in popularity. Parliament is bogged down in a morass of minor Bills while no time can be found for discussion of much of the Commonwealth, personal liberties or foreign affairs. Trinidad Oil, which got half a day, should have rated for either a day or even a two-day debate, or nothing. We have had no proper debate for years on many tax matters which are of great importance, to our economy but cannot be properly reviewed among.a welter of amendments to an annual Finance Bill. A Parliament which tries to take over responsi- bility for everything may end by being responsible for nothing.
Worse still, it is obvious that Ministers, hard pressed among the technicalities of. food and drugs, agricultural welfare and copyright reform, have insufficient time to give to the big and urgent task of stopping our decline as a world and industrial power. As in France, we see a lack of courage and endless preoccupation with electoral popularity. Appeasement is the order of the day. Even the middle classes are to get a few bones from the table—not because of the strength of their case but because of their action at Tonbridge.
If we turn from the Government to the Opposition benches we find the Labour Party equally adept at side-stepping all main issues.
Their rallying cries seem to be 'Back to controls whenever the economy looks like changing,' Stop Tax Evasion' and 'Equality of Purchasing Power.' None of these meets any important need today. The passion for stagnant egalitarianism hardly exists outside the Labour hierarchy, while many of its proposals are quite incompatible with equality' of oppor- timity. It is a masterly evasion of important but embarrassing issues to produce a booklet on personal freedom which not only ignores the problem in the unions but fails to explain how it came about that the party was able to practise so few of its principles when in office: an evasion only surpassed by its housing proposals which will either throw 'social justice' to the winds or cost an astronomical sum of money.
We are left,with the curious spectacle of a once-great popular movement looking for inspiration to ingenious schemes for still further taxation devised by Mr. Kaldor among the small back common rooms of Cambridge.
As a result I am afraid that politics and politicians are falling into disrespect. 'MP' is not a term of abuse as is Depute, but it is doubtful how much good political headlines on frog- men, Members' pay and the suppression of unorthodox views on the air, do us. Of course, these topics are more exciting than defence, the Commonwealth. and certainly than restric- tive practices. Excitement makes headlines. MPs like being in the headlines and voters like reading them. Sensations no doubt interest many people who Would not otherwise be interested in politics at all. It isn't easy to strike a balance. But it is important for democracy that a democratic government should deal, and be known to deal, with matters of life and death to our people.
We may eventually find someone in the Cabinet—my money is on Mr. Macmillan—who is more than a skilled negotiator; someone who has a vision of the sort of Britain he wants to see—and the courage to go to it. But unless that someone rises fairly soon, someone else will fill the power vacuum. ' The Government and Parliament may wake up one day to find the big unions run by Communists, the Commonwealth financed by Americans and Europe in the hands of Germany with Russia backing her. Perhaps our arts'-and dressmaking will then improVe—but it will not be under Parliamentary direction.
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