Not "when" but "whether"

Steel nationalisation, whilst not dropped from the Labour Party programme, will be like a mirage, ever on the horizM but ever out of reach, Who wtote this? some cynical leftwinger, after Blackpool? No! this was written by The Times in a first editorial on the Monday the Blackpool Conference opened, The piece was entitled "Entirely free of socialism" - a statement which has been echoed in Parliament by the Liberals, this week ~ and has proven, sadly, to be prophetic in more than one respect. Mr. Wilson tells us that there/fo time for steel nationalisation in the Parliamentary timetable. Yet there is time for the Immigraticn iwhite Paper, the so-called “early warning" legislation and other measures which were in Labour's election programme. Surely even the blind can see that the dropping of steel nationalisation is a sop to the Liberals. The alternative arguments that Mr. Wilson is putting forward a programme designed to win an election, that after this’ eketion with a big majority he will then go ahead with steel nationalisation, does not hold water. It is not possible to manipulate people like this. The de facto dropping of steel nationalisation from Labour's programme will make it very difficult - if not impossible to build up a climate of opinion in the country which will support the measure, So the issue is not "when" but "whether", Those Labour M,P.s who have been shocked by the omission of steel nationalisation from the Queen's Speech should press their criticisms and not be put off with promises. If the rot is going to be stopped it will have to be stopped on this issue.