London. I have to confess that when, after a period of breath-holding suspense, we heard that the Rhodesian cabinet had rejected Harold Wilson’s terms, my instinctive reaction was one of relief and exhilaration—rather similar to my reaction, a few years ago, when General de Gaulle slammed the door of the Common Market in Britain’s face. Such a feeling was, no doubt, very reprehensible in both cases; it may well be rationally desirable for Britain to go into Europe (though personally I should prefer an Atlantic Free Trade Area) and a satisfactory settlement of the Rhodesian question must obviously be desired by all men of good will.
And yet how hateful it would have been to see Ian Smith, that brave and honorable man, forced to a surrender—and any settlement acceptable to the British government would inevitably be a surrender—by Harold Wilson, whom I have no hesitation in proclaiming the most dishonest and despicable Prime Minister Britain has suffered, at least in this century.
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