Memorandum, State Department Summary of Telegrams

OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE E.O. 12065, Guidelines, Sec. March 3-402 9-10-8 6, 1982 WASHINGTON State By Dept. DCB NLT, Date October 2, 1952 SECRET SECURITY INFORMATON SUMMARY OF TELEGRAMS UNITED In a report on the annual conference of the Labor Party, KINGDOM our Embassy in London states that the elections for the party's National Executive Committee, which may be regarded as a great victory for Bevan, also intensified the feeling of bitterness between the labor union elements and those representing georgraphic constituencies. While there was some talk of revising the party's electoral machinery rules in favor of a procedure by which the labor union could outvote other elements, this is believed to be only a threat at the moment. The results of the vote, however, are numerically misleading. Not even the Bevanites would pretend the six out of seven constituency members are Bevan- ite in sympathy. Rather, the Bevanite gains appear to be due to: (1) tireless and skillful electioneering; (2) the fact that the anti-Bevanite vote was split among 19 candidates; and (3) most important, the opportunity given to register a protest against the cautious and humdrum policy of the party leaders during the past two years. While the` Bevanites are still heavily outvoted on the national executive body, the psychological effect of the gain is important, since the Bevanites will consider the vote a mandate to speak for "large numbers in the labor movement". The defeat of Morrison is a real blow to the party leadership, since he has been the chief advocate of making labor representative of the nation as a whole rather than a "'one class party". As a result of the vote, the Embassy concludes that internal party bitterness has been increased, particularly among union representatives, while some right-wingers will wish to curb the growth of Bevanism. In consequence, the ever present gulf between the unions and the "politicians" in the party will be widened. AFGHANISTAN The acting Indian Foreign Secretary, R. K. Nehru, has informed our Embassy in New Delhi of his Government's deep concern over the recent Soviet note to Afghanistan concerning its plans for economic development in the northern part of the country. The Indian official asserted it is the Indian Government's policy to foster a strong and independent Afghanistan in the interest of Indian security. He added that Pakistan's policy of blocking ingress to Afghanistan had compelled that country to enter into closer economic and political ties with the USSR, and considered it in the interests of Pakistan, India, and the Western democracies to persuade Pakistan to grant unrestricted transit facilities into Afghanistan. When the Pushtoonistan issue was raised, the Indian spokesman defended the Afghan position, asserting the tribesmen had never been tamed, even by the British, and asserted what Afghanistan was seeking was their cultural autonomy, while Pakistan desired Afghanistan to renounce all interest in them. SECRET SECURITY INFORMATION-