https://declassified.library.utoronto.ca/files/original/76b33c0f88c8f5527638d8fda2264d10.pdf 071b2ef215b1404ebebcf0a1e4acd188 PDF Text Text > Document disclosed under the Access to Informatidn Acfr Document divulgue en vertu de lalo/ sur I'acces a I'informatio DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, J CANADA. NUMBERED LETTER # TO: TrtE UNDER-SECRETARY OF STATE FOR EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, OTTAWA, CANADA. Security:...^STBJC.TE;D FROM: .?£?..9*.Q?*.?.**fc?.&&.:Commissioner... Date: No: for Canada,..LONDON Reference;.9™?. l e t t e r . Ml. /MO. «Jttly. .16,*. 19-59- Enclosures; . 1 A33.4. .Of.. J u l y . lO,. .1959 Air or Surface Mail:. . A i r . . . . . Subject:.. $&*. .Q&it.s.ke.ll*s. .answer, .to ... .Mr*. Cousins, .and. .the. Next- Election^ Post File No: Ottawa File No. S'oa,tj6A^~* £'/3.3 - j**' Ar- 4L- / ~v0 '7$. i References Whether ©r not his resounding rejection °i-i? e of£}?ial Labour policy on nuclear weapons will establish him as anew leader of the party's left wing, a successor to Mr. Bevan and a challenger of Mr. Gaitskell, Mr. Cousins is considered by most observers in London to have dealt a blow to the Labour Party's already uncertain prospects of winning an election which is increasingly expected to be called this fall. 2. \ As already reported, (see Mr. Drew's telegram N2210 of July 8) the atmosphere of last week's foreign policy debate in the House reflected pre-electoral party differences over nuclear weapons and, in particular, Mr. Bevan's attack on the government suggested that the Opposition was preparing their ammunition for the approaching • general election. Current speculation is that ; this will take place in October or early November and the spectacle of Labour disunity over nuclear weapons is believed to be one of the factors which may cost the party some votes, especially in marginal seats. Internal Circulation Distribution to Posts Washington Nato Paris Emb. Paris 3.. The Labour declaration on nuclear policy was designed to achieve tfeba wide appeal. It maintained the orthodox line about continued nuclear armament to satisfy the middle-of-the-road voter and it added the non-nuclear club proposal as a concession to the left wingers, the pacifists and the unilateralists (i.e. those who favour unilateral nuclear disarmament).5 However, Mr. Cousins has flatly rejected the non-nuclear club idea and confronted the Labour leaders with the task of limiting the damage he has done and of re-launching the line of broadest electoral appeal. 4. Mr. Gaitskell set to the task in a speech at Workington last Saturday, July 11. To put Mr. Cousins in his place, he said firmly that "our party decisions on these matters are not dictated by one man - whether he be the leader of the party, whether he be the party's spokesman on foreign affairs or the General Secretary of the •.• «/2 Ext. 182A (Rev. 2/52) 001018 �Document disclosed under the Access to Information Act Document divulgue en vertu de la Loi sur I'acces a {'informatio f> 2 *!* Transport and General Workers* Union". (Mr. Cousins is the General Secretary of the T. & G.W.U.) 5. Mr. Gaitskell did manage to put in a thrust at the Government and, referring to the governmental argument about the national deterrent being required to maintain national influence, power and prestige, he said: "If we use this argument ourselves, we cannot deny its validity to others. (To do so was) thoughtless, out-ofdate and brutal Tory jingoism." 6. However, Mr. Gaitskell concentrated mainly upon restoring order in his own party. Putting the issue in the context of Britain's allegiance to Nato, he asked the unilateralists to "really make up their minds whether they intend us, when we give up our arms, to give up our alliances as well, whether they intend Britain to stay In NATO or not". He warned that if Britain were to leave the alliance, NATO might collapse and Western Europe would be indefensible. He then proceeded to defend the Labour declaration on nuclear policy point by point and he warned that, while Trades Unions and Labour Annual conferences can recommend things, and while the Party will take these recommendations into account, ?*annual con-? ference does hot mandate a government". Not only that, but the Party must be left "free to settle in matters of detail how and when the principles and decisions are to be applied in practice. This has always been understood in the past and it must be clearly understood again to-day"v * 7. Thus the pax*ty leader has answered Mr. Cousins' challenge of the party line and ranks are closing for the sake of party unity, as required in a pre-electoral period. How long they will remain closed and whether or not the Counsihs revolt will spread may depend on the outcome of the election and on the suoess of the hierarchy, or of Mr. Cousins, in proving to the party rank and file that the defeat was due to the weaknesses of official policy or to the incohsidered, irresponsible character of the revolt. At any rate, It now seems likely that Labour will go to the country with an orthodox nuclear policy plus the non-nuclear club idea which is so conditional that it will allow a Labour administration sufficient leewayjin deciding their policy in the event that the electorate conferred this responsibility upon them. ^ \ ( 8. Judging from a public opinion poll just conducted on behalf of the DAILY.TELEGRAPH, the results of which were published on July 16th (clipping attached), it would seem that in the marginal; constituencies (where it is generally believed the election will be decided), 67$ of those whose opinion.was sought apparently favour Britain continuing to make .'atomic and hydrogen bombs so long as any other country has them, while12$ aro unilateralists, and only 9% endorse the non-nuclear weapon club idea. Thus it would seem that both the main factions in the current dispute in the Labour Party are out of tune , with the opinion of the majority of Labour voters. From this result one would judge that the leaders of the Labour Party may concentrate on trying to remove the impression of disunity in the Party on this issue and turn public attention, for the purposes: of election, to other issues such as the cost of living;, housing or unemployments Canada Housed v 001019 \ � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context CDNW02455 Title A name given to the resource External to London 1380 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 16-Jul-59 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived �NATO - Stockpiling of atomic weapons in NATO countries,� RG25-A-3-b, vol. 5958, 50219-AL-1-40, pt. 2.2, Library and Archives Canada (LAC). Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Department of External Affairs Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource Canadian Crown Subject The topic of the resource atomic cooperation, NATO, nuclear weapons Description An account of the resource Mr. Gaitskell's Answer to Mr. Cousins and the Next Election Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Canada Declassified Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource en