LEFT , RIGHT & CENTRE .sx Split over Africa- Welcome news- Non-racialism .sx The deep split in the Conservative Party over Africa gives me no joy .sx Much too much is at stake for that .sx Make no mistake about it , the divisions are very serious and the revolt against the Government is grave .sx Lord Salisbury is a power in the Conservative Party and he has used intemperate language- much more vigorous than at the time of his resignation over Munich .sx Ninety Conservatives , despite all sorts of pressure , have kept their names to a motion on the Order Paper in the House of Commons that is critical of Mr. Macleod , the Colonial Secretary .sx Lord Hailsham would never have counter-attacked Lord Salisbury with such bitterness , unless this was a split that worries the Government .sx To accuse the most respected Tory of them all of hitting below the belt is going very far .sx DO NOT YIELD .sx Labour will defend the Government against these high-born and influential rebels .sx This does not mean that we wholly agree with the Government's policy nor with the way they have handled things .sx The Prime Minister in particular has given the impression to the Europeans in Rhodesia that he has hoodwinked and deceived them .sx But it is essential that the Government should stand firm .sx If they yield an inch , Britain may well have an Algeria on its hands .sx That's why we will not exploit this deep split , but back the Government against the rebellion in its ranks .sx GAG .sx The Government has decided to curtail and guillotine debate on the Health Service charges .sx A Government must of course in proper circumstances use the means necessary to get its business through .sx But are the present circumstances proper ?sx If a Government introduces highly controversial legislation , it must expect to lose parliamentary time .sx Especially when it has no parliamentary mandate .sx The Bill is a short one .sx It is also a tax-measure that ought to be fully discussed .sx The Government has used the guillotine out of fear .sx It did not like the publicity that Labour's vigorous opposition drew to the health charges .sx But , never fear , we will find plenty of ways of making our bitter opposition effective .sx Patrick Gordon Walker ITEMS of news from the motor industry give the impression that trade is improving and that the employment position is better than it was a few weeks ago .sx This kind of news will be welcome not only in the car-building towns here in the Midlands but also in the places where so many of the component parts are manufactured .sx The Minister of Labour is reported to be taking a new initiative to improve industrial relations , for example , by bringing together both sides of the motor industry .sx It is to be hoped that both management and workers will be able to put forward constructive ideas which will help to push further into the background the dreaded threat of unemployment .sx HOUSING PROGRESS .sx There are some interesting items from other directions as well as industry , particularly one about housing .sx By the end of this year one person in every four will be living in a post-war house .sx Also , nearly a million people have been re-housed from slums since the Government's drive started in 1956 .sx Housing for old people is being increased and now accounts for nearly a third of all local government building .sx In the educational sphere , there is good progress .sx Never before has there been such a big programme of school building .sx At the same time training college places are being doubled to get the extra teachers needed to do away with the evil of oversize classes .sx A good example of the advance in education is that there are now twice as many university students as in 1938 , and it is anticipated that by 1970 the number will have more than trebled .sx Another angle of education , not always so well known , is that there are at present over 40,000 overseas students in the United Kingdom , many of them from Commonwealth countries recently granted independence .sx Charles Dickens " WHAT we want is a society where the individual matters , and not the colour of his skin or the shape of his nose .sx " So wrote Mr. Julius Nyerere , the Chief Minister of Tanganyika , in last Sunday's Observer , and he echoes a basic Liberal belief .sx Like Mr. Nyerere , Liberals want a non-racial Commonwealth and a non-racial Britain .sx By the time you read this , we will know whether South Africa is or is not to remain in the Commonwealth .sx Liberals support those Commonwealth statesmen who have demanded her expulsion .sx There can be no room for Dr. Verwoerd's Fascist police-state in the Commonwealth .sx If South Africa is allowed to remain , Britain's prestige in Africa and Asia will dwindle as it did after the Suez escapade .sx Further , Dr. Verwoerd will be regarded in South Africa as having won a great victory .sx This is surely something we want to prevent .sx IMMIGRATION .sx Some four-hundred years ago , Europeans- including Englishmen- carried off many of the people of West Africa into slavery , to work the plantations of the West Indies .sx Now , the descendants of those slaves have multiplied , and those tiny islands are bursting at the seams .sx Jamaica has 20 per cent .sx unemployment , and it is not surprising that many of her people are coming to Britain .sx The welfare of these people is our responsibility .sx I suggest the following comprehensive plan to deal with the so-called " immigration " - to a large extent simply a housing problem .sx ( 1 .sx ) It should be illegal to enforce a colour-bar in Britain in public places .sx ( 2 .sx ) The Government should attempt to persuade Canada and Australia to open their doors to West Indian immigrants- and thus relieve the pressure on living space in Britain and in the West Indies .sx ( 3 .sx ) There should be a medical check on all immigrants ; criminals should not be admitted ; and all immigrants should obtain a reasonable place to live in before landing .sx The help of voluntary associations , such as the British-Caribbean Association , should be enlisted to find accommodation for immigrants .sx ( 4 .sx ) Could not Smethwick Council follow the example of Willesden by establishing an International Friendship Council to fight racialism ?sx - Michael Watts LEFT , RIGHT & CENTRE .sx Withdrawing the Whip- Local issues- Liberal advance .sx THE Parliamentary Labour Party took the grave step last week of withdrawing the Whip from five of its members .sx What does " withdrawing the Whip " mean ?sx It is not , as is often thought , expulsion from the party .sx Those five members remain members of the Labour Party and of course , Members of Parliament .sx But they are no longer recognised as belonging to the Parliamentary Labour Party :sx they do not come to its meetings , nor are they informed of its decisions .sx When the Whip is withdrawn , this fact is reported to the national executive committee .sx This is in order that the local parties of the members concerned can be officially informed .sx WHY ?sx .sx The fundamental reason for this action was that these five members deliberately defied a decision taken and three times reaffirmed by the Parliamentary Labour Party as a whole .sx There is much liberty in the Parliamentary Labour Party- much more than in the ordinary Labour group on a council .sx Members can ask what questions they like , speak as they wish and they can always abstain from voting .sx This should be liberty enough for the most tender conscience .sx The line is only drawn at voting against a clear decision of the Party meeting .sx Without this rule , there would be no discipline at all ; the Party would be a mob .sx Every Labour group recognises this .sx MPs who cannot accept this degree of discipline are really independent MPs .sx Withdrawal of the Whip makes them this in form as well as in fact .sx AGAINST ESTIMATES .sx The five cannot justly claim that they were voting in accord with conference decisions .sx This was done by the whole party when it voted solidly against the Defence white paper .sx The five voted against the defence estimates .sx It has long been clear party policy that this should not be done .sx It would be open to public misunderstanding .sx The five did not vote against the Tories .sx What they voted against was the whole Army and the whole Air Force .sx No conference decision ever justified such action .sx The Labour Party is fundamentally more united than before .sx It is not the withdrawal of the Whip that causes new disunity :sx but the deliberate defiance by five members of decisions by the party .sx Patrick Gordon Walker AMONG those who like talking politics , and who have been mainly concerned with African problems these last few weeks , interest will soon be turning to local issues as the time draws near for the election of councillors at the several levels of local government .sx This year there will be county council , urban district , rural district and parish council elections as well as those for the county boroughs- like Smethwick- and the non-county municipal boroughs .sx Interest should also be increased this year as the ordinary elections will be followed by the elections by councillors of their aldermen .sx The Prime Minister , speaking at a recent rally in London , said on the subject of local government :sx " We put first and foremost the idea of a working partnership between central and local government in which each side does its proper " .sx CO-OPERATION .sx To carry out properly and effectively many of the aims of the Government depends upon such a real working arrangement at national and local levels .sx The development of the social services is a good example of the need for close co-operation ; whilst the Government can bring forward legislation at Parliamentary level , the work of ensuring that such services are put into operation depends to a great extent on the local authority .sx To strengthen local government and equip it better to fulfil its growing responsibilities , the Government introduced the general grant , with no strings attached .sx This improvement in the way of dealing with financial grants has freed local councils from much detailed control from Whitehall .sx Consequently , the councils have more responsibility and should have a greater incentive to spend wisely the money they receive from the local people in the form of rates , and from the taxpayers in the form of Government grants .sx The general grant takes account of the cost of local services and has been substantially increased each year since its introduction .sx It will be +25 million higher in 1961-62 than this year in England and Wales .sx Charles Dickens LIBERALS made another spectacular advance in last week's by-elections .sx In all four contests the Liberal vote rose , while both Tory and Socialist votes slumped badly .sx If we compare the figures in these by-elections with those of the last three-cornered fights , we find that the total Liberal vote was up by 13,601 .sx The total Conservative vote was down by 15,633 , and the total Labour vote was down by 22,972 .sx The swing to the Liberals was seven per cent .sx in Colchester , nine per cent .sx at Cambridgeshire , 10 per cent .sx at High Peak , and over 20 per cent .sx at Worcester .sx ACHIEVEMENT .sx The Liberal achievement is all the more remarkable when one remembers the disadvantages under which the Liberal candidates worked .sx They were backed only by voluntary subscriptions , and could not , like the Tory and Labour parties , draw on subsidies from big business or the big trade unions .sx Moreover , these Liberal candidates had no mass circulation newspapers to support them .sx In the by-election period the mass circulation papers enforced a censorship on all Liberal views and speeches .sx When Jo Grimond spoke to a rally of over 2,000 Liberals in London , only The Guardian reported the meeting .sx After the death of the News Chronicle all the anti-Liberal papers suffered from an epidemic of fair-mindedness in an effort to win new readers .sx The Daily Herald announced itself to be " fair and free " and even The Daily Express printed an article by Jo Grimond .sx Those days are now over .sx The Tory papers have returned to their usual practice of reporting only Tory views , and the Labour papers print only Labour views .sx It is left to independent papers like The Guardian and local papers like the Telephone to preserve the freedom of the Press .sx