The Daily Telegraph, 3 February, 1968.

ʻThis is not the moment to express complacency about Britain.

We have just gone through a period when the Government has had to reverse many of its policies and it is clear that the country's economic problems have not yet been solved.

Nevertheless criticism of Britain, both in our own country and abroad, often implies that Britain's position is uniquely bad.

This cannot be justified either historically or internationally.

On the contrary, any realistic comparison suggests that the problems that Britain is now facing are rather less serious in character than those which have faced most British governments in this century and are considerably less serious than those which face the governments of the other major powers.

ʻThe struggle over Ireland before 1914, the First World War, the general strike, the depression, the rise of Hitler, the Second World War, the beginning of the cold war the dissolution of the British empire, were all of them political problems far more difficult than those which face the present Government.

The business of government is in itself normally difficult and the present problems, far from being exceptionally so, are relatively easy and mild.

If one looks at the position of other countries, it is clear that their governments have problems which are worse than ours.

Presumably the major country which is in the worst shape at present is China.

The Chinese are ruled by an extremely eccentric old man, there is faction fighting and division throughout the country amounting almost to anarchy, there has been a serious loss of investment and education through the disorders of the cultural revolution, and China is faced by the hostility of the two greatest powers of the world, Russia to the north and the United States to the south and east. Yet if China has difficulties, the United States has difficulties which are only less serious.

The Americans are engaged in a war in Asia which there is no prospect of them winning, either militarily or politically. At home the colour problem has become more serious than it has ever been before and the United States looks forward to a summer in which there may be street fighting in many of its large cities.

ʻPerhaps to the Soviet Union the weaknesses of the United States may be a reassurance, though any instability in the United States could quickly become a threat.

Yet the Soviet Union itself is going through a crisis of development in which the younger generation is alienated from the old Stalinist establishment and the establishment is trying to employ half-hearted repression, always the most dangerous and ineffective of political responses.

In Germany there is the problem of a divided nation and the threat of rising support for a neo-Nazi party. In France, one-quarter of the electorate votes Communist and there is no clear political future after De Gaulle who is himself pursuing policies of an increasingly destructive character.

ʻPerhaps one should point to Japan as the one country which is mastering its problems well and has a secure and favourable future. But Japan is necessarily involved in the Asian policy of the United States and has the unpredictable yet enormous power of China as her neighbour.

ʻIn these world conditions, grave as they are for every country, Britain's problems do indeed seem to be secondary. We ought to realize this because a disproportionate view of our problems will only make them more difficult to solve. The stable Britain of the 1960s is probably the easiest country in the world to govern; unfortunately, our Government makes it look like hard work.ʼ

*********************

↑ Return top of page ↑