The arguments used by the Sunday Times in the article mentioned on page 2 are disturbing enough, But, even more disturbing is the basic assumption that Ministers have a responsibility for Government decisions which is restricted to their own departments. This is not a criticism of the Sunday Times contributor, who is merely recognising, quite correctly, the degree to which collective responsibility has degenerated under the Wilson Administration, The Rhodesian situation is only a case, and not the most central case, in point, In terms of answerability te the electorate, economic policy on the home front is more likely to be the potent factor, The Government's shocking record in this field is not a matter for which Harold Wilson and James Callaghan alone are answerable, and no amount of musical chairs within the Cabinet can absolve their colleagues of their measure of responsibility for policies which make a mockery of the word 'Socialism', The betrayal of the Party's class support is not one that will be forgotten with the passage of time; the Tories will see to that, The measure of the scale of the betrayal is to be seen in the disgraceful summer figures for unemployment = the highest since 1940, By setting this new yardstick of "acceptable" unemployment, the Wilson Administration has not merely made more likely the return of a Tory Government. It has also presented such a Government with a reactionary weapon which it could never have forged for itself, If the Labour Party as a whole is not to carry this stigma, it is imperative for rank-and-file M.P's to assert themselves, At the best, they may reverse the tide:.at the worst, they will give something to build on for the future, The omens are not good, and already, in the latest reshuffle, at least one "left-winger" has accepted appointment to a post where he cannot influence, but can only carry out, the policies which he should be opposing,
FRI