Office of the Historian

414. Telegram From the Embassy in the United Kingdom to the Department of State0

London, March 27, 1963, 4 p.m.

3744. For the Secretary from Bruce. Paris for Ambassador. I have lately had frank conversations with most of the Labour Party leaders. They are a lively lot, exuding confidence, contemptuous of the present govt, convinced of their ability, if elected, to revive the British economy, and perform other near miracles.

Having long been out of office, and confined to criticism without real responsibility, it will be interesting to watch how, during the campaign, [Page 1132] they develop party doctrines. The thirst for power has already brought about cohesion in their ranks. Former opponents of Harold Wilson now proclaim him peerless. Gaitskell’s friend, Gordon-Walker, might well be Foreign Minister in a cabinet of all factions if not of all talents. The discordance of intraparty strife has been muted to a marked degree.

Wilson will, I believe, pursue a generally pro-American line with such reservations as might seem appropriate for a defender of the Socialist faith, and of British national prestige. He is a brilliant debater, persuasive in conversation, affable, seemingly sincere though widely accused in the past of opportunistic insincerity. I think his greatest danger might be a tendency to express his views with unnecessary freedom and verbosity, without having sufficiently weighed the complexities of the problems concerned.

I shall not attempt further comment at this time on Labour personalities and policies. I commend to your attention recent reports and vignettes by Al Irving on these subjects. Sulzberger’s New York Times column of March 25 is an accurate representation of Wilson’s current attitude regarding British nuclear policy. In my opinion, this attitude makes it all the more important that as concerns the multilateral force we continue to consider it, as originally conceived, a possible response to Allied wishes, and not as a project we wish to impose on our partners.

Bruce
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, Pol 12 UK. Secret; Limit Distribution. Repeated to Paris.↩