Soon after Anthony Eden was elbowed aside for Sir Reginald Gibbon, Sylvia Leighton - who had been absent from Parliament on a fact-finding mission to Cyprus - was invited onto 'The World Today' to discuss the development...
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: Good morning. Welcome to the British Home Service. This is 'The World Today'. Joining me is Ms. Sylvia Leighton, the Labour MP for Sutton and Cheam, who also serves in Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition with responsibility for defence matters. Ms. Leighton, good morning.
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: Good morning, Mr. Mainwaring. Thank you for having me on this programme.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: Thank you for joining me. For the benefit of our listeners, I should note that you have a splendid colour, Ms. Leighton.
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: I am obliged to you, Mr. Mainwaring. Indeed, I have just been abroad - in Cyprus, visiting the British troops and administrators there and sounding them out on the disturbances in the province. Naturally, my findings shall contribute to the final report of the Colonial Reform Committee. Alas, the issue of this report shall be delayed owing to this sudden and unexpected election.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: On that note... Now, as Sir Reginald Gibbon's opposite number in the House of Commons, you must have a very firm opinion of the gentleman. Were you surprised by his sudden elevation to Downing Street?
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: I did not regard it as a surprise, no. I regarded it as a joke.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: Would it be impudent to infer that you do not think highly of Sir Reginald?
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: I do not have much of an opinion at all, Mr. Mainwaring. I have to confess that, even having stood opposite the gentleman for the past parliament, I was given no real impression of his character. In debate, he has always been evasive, opaque and particularly truculent when confronted by opposition. Never has he demonstrated what one would call the qualities of leadership: the ability to inspire others, steadiness under fire, and so forth. I remain convinced that his promotion was contrived so as to provide at least one pliant ally to Mr. Eden, who, as recent events attest, had good reason to fear the insubordination of his cabinet colleagues. Now that Mr. Eden has been forced upon his sword, Sir Reginald was no doubt the least objectionable candidate to replace him. But a quiet party man does not make a courageous prime minister.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: Now, Ms. Leighton, these are rather serious barbs you are directing against the Prime Minister. Are you perhaps being guided by personal sentiment rather than policy? After all, Sir Reginald has several achievements to his name during his time at the Ministry of Defence. To name but a few, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was added to the pantheon of nuclear powers, while serious disturbances in Egypt and Iran were suppressed. Do you deny these achievements?
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: Due to considerations of national security, I cannot comment on the exact process of obtaining the nuclear bomb. But I must remind Sir Reginald, and others, that the nuclear programme was embarked upon by Mr. Atlee in the last Labour government. Moreover, without the constant scrutiny and pressured applied by the Opposition, the Government would have made only desultory progress towards nuclear parity. Regardless, the nuclear programme is a national achievement, not a party-political one.
As for Sir Reginald's adventures in Egypt and Iran, I regard these as symptomatic of the misplaced priorities of the Government. Now, the British interest must be defended, especially against illegitimate violence and coercion. But while the Government has allowed millions of souls to fall under Soviet domination, they have acted only to subvert and undermined national governments who stand on the front-line of the free world. Take the Iranian case, for example. Here is a country which, due to the naivete of the Conservative administration of the day, was once under Soviet occupation. It continues to maintain a border with the Soviet Empire. Now that the Iranians have seen their nation violated by the Western powers, who else may they turn to but Moscow? Mark my words: the Iranian affair shall return to haunt this country. We live now in a world of two great camps, democratic and Soviet, and any country that does not belong to one must therefore belong to the other.
Similarly, his superficially impressive performance in Egypt comes at the cost of our international standing and long-term interest. The Near-East is already a powderkeg of discontent. Into the midst of this turmoil creeps the Soviet tentacles. Syria has already established close relations with Moscow. Now that Egypt has been humiliated by British arms, and an unpopular monarchy forced upon the people, how long before the Soviet influence reaches Cairo? We must realise that in the post-war world, Great Britain is no longer the only game in town. Everywhere we misstep, the Soviets advance.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: That is certainly one interpretation of these events. Is this the official line of the Labour Party?
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: I do not believe it is our line, no. One can read it in many of the newspapers. It is a common sentiment.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: Speaking of the press, you will perhaps have read the articled penned by the Prime Minister, to much general speculation, regarding so-called 'ambush journalism'. Now, the Prime Minister maintains that the political classes have been engaged in, and I quote, "collaboration" with the press, by staging apparent ambushes in order to increase circulation of their views. Tell me, Ms. Leighton: has the Labour Party ever colluded with the press in such a manner?
Ms. Sylvia Leighton, MP: Now, Mr. Mainwaring, that was not in the script we agreed to! [Gentle laughter] But no, I have never engaged in such collaboration, nor has any one else in the Party, at least to my knowledge. Nor am I entirely convinced that it exists anywhere but in the minds of Tory grandees. Now, I am indeed concerned by the occasional pluminess between the members of the press and the political parties. The small world of Westminster can often invite such dubious alliances.
But I am truly enamoured, however, with the liberty of the press and the accountability of government. Under Mr. Eden, there was far too much leeway given to those who would constrain this liberty. Indeed, Mr. Eden personally rebuffed me in the House when I ventured to defend this freedom, claiming that the Government had acted only to suppress 'pornography'. Yet simultaneous to this exchange, Sir Reginald was agitating for the investigation of political parties. And now he fires this broadside against the press establishment. When the government of the day seeks to cast aspersions against the veracity of the press, one must truly wonder whether they are concerned by fairness, or merely desire to insulate themselves against criticism.
Mr. Samuel Mainwaring: I am afraid that we are now out of time. Ms. Leighton, thank you for joining me.
