An Offense on Defense

When the Labor Party was soundly thrashed by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in last year's elections, many political analysts attributed that defeat in part to Labor's commitment to nuclear disarmament, which would dramatically change Britain's role in NATO. Last week the party, led by Neil Kinnock, issued a 52-page defense manifesto that eliminated any remaining doubts about its program. The document recommended a policy that would remove all U.S. bases from the country, scrap the British atomic arsenal and work to make Europe a nuclear-free zone. Declared the party: "We should no longer behave as though we are a great power or the center of a global empire."

The new policy is not strictly neutralist, since it calls for a buildup of conventional defensive arms. If adopted by a government in Westminster, it would force NATO to consider a new defense strategy and clearly alter Britain's relationship with the U.S. An unanswered question is how it would affect Labor's chances of regaining power. Polls indicate that since last year's election, more Britons favor a nuclear freeze and fewer support cooperation with the U.S. in nuclear policy. The next elections, however, are probably still more than four years away.