Evening star., 1950-01-30
Mr.. Churchill in 'Queuetopio'

Between now and the general election
on February %, the attention of the Brit
Ism people is likely to be riveted almost
exclusively on domestic politics. At any
rate, as the leader of the Conservative
Party, former Prime Minister Winston
Churchill has made clear in his latest
campaign speech that the Tory opposition
Is going to do its best, in the few weeks
remaining before the polls open to defeat
the LaboriteS on the issue of their man
agement of home affairs.
Foreign policy scarcely enters the pic
ture, its essentials being fully agreed upon
by Liberals, Conservatives and Laborites
alike But Mr.. Churchill has left no room
Tor doubt that in domestic matters, and
to limited extent in matters bearing upon
the methods used in handling interna-
tional problems, Prime Minister Attlee and
his government are facing what promises
to be formidable offensive At the mo-
ment, political observers in Britain are
refusing to make any unqualified predic-
tionS, but most of them apparently have
the feeling that the February % returns,
one way or the other, may be very close,
even though the Tory comeback" fight
is based on platform containing a con-
siderable amount of "me-tooism
The "me-tooism" cannot be denied. The
Conservatives have declared themselves to
be every bit as strong for the welfare state
as Is the Labor Party, and they have told
the electorate that most Of the industries
already nationalized will remain in that
status. Nevertheless, though they thus are
campaigning in part on a promise to do
the same things but to do them better.
Mr.. Churchill has emphasized that he and
his followers, except in a strictly limited
sense, are by no means lacking In policies
and principles that are fundamentally
far different from those of the Attlee gov
ernment. As far as naturalization goes,
for example, they propose, if elected, to
repeal 1t In the case of iron and steel
and to prevent its further extension. In
addition, pledging themselves to do away
with extravaganza, to reduce food sub
sides, to improve export import practices.
to make better use of American aid, and
in general to be sounder economically,
they have committed themselves to cut
taxes and to brighten life in Britain by
eliminating as much austerity as possible
and by otherwise changing what Mr..
Churchill has attacked as some of the
worst features of the Laborites' Socialist
"Queuetopia
Above all, Mr.. Churchill has served
notice that the prime objective of the Con-
servative Party is not merely to win the
election but to smash what he has de-
scribed as pilot" by the Laborites "to
obtain power over their fellow countrymen
such as no British government has ever
sought before" The heat of the campaign
may be partly responsible for the harsh
ness of his words on this point, but he
has made rather forceful case for the
idea that the Attlee regime, whether
Willingly, or not, has been. stirring up
class strife, sitting private enterprise and
leading Britons, step by step, slowly but
surely, toward the type of Socialist state
that would be fatal alike to their freedom
and prosperity"
In effect, in saying all this, MIR. Churchill
has called for the custer of the Laborites
on the ground that their continuation in
office for another five years will drive the
United Kingdom farther and farther along
the road to an impoverishing and liberty
destroying form of totalitarianism. The
Conservatives presumably will hammer
away at this theme throughout the re-
mainder Of the campaign. Whether the
British people will respond favorably to
1t, however, is the $64 question. The only
thing that seems certain right now is that
the political division is fairly close and
that if the Liberals were not running as
a third party, it might be safe to predict
a Churchill victory.