Hungary and the Failure of the Left

Events in Hungary, The Manchester Guardian has written, have “slightly weakened the Communists, without rallying the nonCommunist left.” The words were intended to describe the French political scene, where the cry “Algeria!” greets any socialist attempt to express sympathy with the Hungarian workers. They seem no less true of England, and that despite the innocence of the Labor Party with regard to Suez and Cyprus, and despite the persistent effort here to define and articulate a “socialist foreign policy.” For that effort has met with far greater success in facing a receding imperium than in confronting contemporary Europe. In the latter case the effects of the cold war polarity have been all too obvious. The new force to which the Hungarian people—so briefly and bravely—gave testimony has never entered into British calculations.

Those Laborites who have “responsibly” accepted the “necessity” of a garrisoned W...