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Salient: An organ of student opinion at Victoria University, Wellington. Vol. 23, No. 3. Monday, April 11, 1960

Right, Left And Centre

Right, Left And Centre

After a racy summary of the forces behind the Right ("The British Conservative Party is as much of a thieves' kitchen as the New Zealand National Party— more so, perhaps, because the stakes are bigger") and the Centre ("The absence of a tradition like that of British liberalism, in New Zealand, is conspicuous and deplorable—it means that on a host of issues the British Liberal Party is well to the left of the New Zealand Labour Party"), he gave a detailed analysis of the Left. He described, what he called, the "Old Left" as, "two prominent monoliths, and a lot of loose gravel." In the first category are the lumbering party more prominent), and the Communists (the more monolithic). In the second category he placed the tiny splinter groups and sects that have detached themselves from both.

There were, he claimed, some healthy forces inside both the "monoliths" and the splinter groups had also made many positive contributions. The most promising sign on the Left, however, was taking the form of a deep dissatisfaction with the rigidity and bureaucratic control of the "Old Left." This was principally associated with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, whose Aldermaston March last Easter attracted thousands and thousands of serious young people, and whose policies have been adopted by trade unions never considered subject to "leftist" influence.