Halt

Last weekend 70 leaders of Britain's Labor Party journeyed to the Beatrice Webb house, isolated on the Surrey Downs. It was from the late Beatrice Webb and her husband Sidney that Labor had drawn much of its original inspiration. Now, drained of inspiration and weakened by last February's general election, Labor had returned to the home of its spiritual parents to face the question: "Where do we go from here?"

The party's Socialist militants, headed by Health Minister Aneurin Bevan, went to the conclave determined that Labor must place all its hopes in an appeal to workers. Nationalization and more nationalization was what was needed, said Bevan.

But Herbert Morrison, Labor's leader in the House of Commons, disagreed. If it was to go on winning elections, said Morrison, Labor must appeal to the middle class as well as to workingmen. "[Nationalization] is good enough in some businesses," remarked one of Morrison's supporters, "but in most others, why not let private enterprise get on with the job . . . so long as the state holds the strings?"

When the two-day conference was over, Herbert Morrison had sold the Labor Party on moderation. This week the party's national executive committee was scheduled to start speedy work on a platform which would offer something to everybody. Among probable planks: a halt in nationalization, continued derationing (see below), lowered food costs, and some thawing of the wage freeze. Labor hoped to stave off another election until next year, but with so uncertain a majority in the House of Commons, the party had to have a good platform in stock.

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