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awakened to the política! facts of life
- once the vote-counting really began.
What had gooe wrong? All but one
of Britain's pollsters had predicted
Labour would
wín
by a margin of about
seven percent.
Labour Complacency
What caused Britain to thtow out her
six-year-old Labour Government? Why
this Labour upset - the greatest political
upset in recent British history - remi–
niscent of Harry S. Truman's smashing
defeat of Thomas E. Dewey in the 1948
U. S. Presidential Election?
Ducing the pre-election campaigning,
silver-haired Prime Minister Wilson
appeared as an assured, contented and
complacent man - puffing beoignly on
his pipe. He and his party gave the
impression that the election was already
in tbe bag.
In contrast, Mr. Heatb knew he and
his Conservative Party would have to
work hard if they were to win the elec–
tion. They would have to fight all tbe
way!
Mr. Heath kept telling the British
nation that
all tvas not as rosy with
Britain
today as Mr. Wilson would
have them believe. He pointed out that
prices and wages
were skyrocketing,
As•ocioted Press Pholo•
ABOYE: Roman Catholic demonstrators in Londonderry, Northern lreland,
pelt British troops with rocks during an Easter Sunday confrontation. BELOW
RIGHT: Striking dock workers close British ports on July 14. Problems with
Northern lreland and recurrent labor strikes are just two of the many major
headaches facing Prime Minister Heath.
st1-i/us
were mushrooming,
ct"ime
was
soaring -
aU
the while British
pride
and
influence
in the world contioued
to decline.
He Batly denied that Britaio's econ–
omy was healthy, and predicted that
Me.
Wilson would soon have to adopt
another "freeze and squeeze" policy
immediately after the election -
if
he
were re-elected.
Furthermore, he pointed out that if
the Labour Government continued in
power it would probably soon resort to
another
devalr1atio11
of the pound. The
Board of Trade, just a few days befare
the electioo, published trade .figures
revealing that Britain's trade deficit for
May was about $100 million.
Mr. Heath appealed directly to Bcit–
ish
hottsewives.
He claimed that
if
the
Socialist Government of Mr. Wilson
were voted back into office, ordinary
people would find the money in their
pockets buying less and less. "We
would have a 3-shilling loaf, a shilling
bus fare and a shilliog telephone call,
and we would have to pay for them out
of a
1
0-slülling pound," said Mr.
Heath.
Many now agree, however, that it
was sheer
complacency,
more than any–
thing else, which lost the Labour Party
the election!
Perplexing Problems Abroad
Now look at the disturbing facts of
.British life wbich Mr. Heath and his
newly formed government face.
Certainly the
deep
divisions
both
within the British Commonwealth and
within Great Britain herself are cause
for concern.
Many ate paiofully aware that Brit–
ain has lost her Empire. She once ruled
one fourth of this earth's peoples and
land surfaces, but has not yet found for
herself a post-Empire role in the world.
Britain now makes no pretense of
possessing Great-Power status. She
understands tbat her chronically sick
economy no longer permits her to play
~
major pact in policing the world -
even
if
she wanted to.
Under Mr. Wilson's Labour Govern-