Still Only .bstaining

Somewhere between 31 and 35 M.P.s abstained on the renewal of the Government's wages standstill powers, There is no excuse whatsoever for either those who refused to vote against the Government, or for those who still stick to the theory that one isolates oneself if one doesn't vote for the Government, Abstaining is quite incapable of mobilising opinion and action against the Government on this or any other matter, The Government's decision not to throw out thase who voted against the Government on the Common Market shows that the atstainers had nothing to fear, On the contrary what many Labour M.P.s have to fear is the loss of their seats at the next election. This Government has shown that it is determined to go ahead with its reactionary policies regardless of all the "good advice" it gets from well-meaning left wingers, The lesson is this: unless some effort is made to convince militants and active trade unionists that someone in the Labour Party is going to really resist Wilson's wage freeze there is no prospect of bringing them into the struggle, One vote in Parliammt which threatered the Government would be worth a thousand abstentions. If Wilson was really threatened in Parliament he would, as always, manoeuvre, M.P.s would then be doing something,