The Severest Controls In Peacetime History

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Blind Loyalty. Despite such protests, Wilson managed to win party endorsement of his stiff decree. "I suppose it's all right," said one bewildered Scottish Laborite, as he cast his district's ballots for Wilson. "After all, they are our government, and we've got to keep them in or we'll have the Tories."

On issues where there was less fear of bringing down the government, Wilson received jarring setbacks. By a wide margin, the party voted to withdraw British forces from east of Suez by 1970 and trim annual defense expenditures to $4.9 billion (v. $6 billion at present). The party also endorsed Frank Cousins' one-sided resolution to "bring all pressures" on the Johnson Administration to stop the fighting in Viet Nam.

Party resolutions are not binding on British governments, and Wilson is not likely to endanger relations with the U.S. by reducing Britain's defense commitments. Still, for a politician who seeks to rule by consensus, the Brighton balloting clearly showed that he had failed to achieve one in vital foreign policy and defense fields. It is now up to Wilson to either create a new consensus within his party or bend to the one that already exists.