Fallen kingdom? Dinosaur jibes as left and right clash over how to rebuild UK

The Post reported on the clash of political ideology on its front page of March 3, 1963.

“Wilson Asks For Blank Cheque,” read the headline, continuing: “Mr Iain Macleod, chairman of the Conservative Party Organisation, said their charge against Mr Harold Wilson, Labour Party leader, was he intended to ask the nation for a blank cheque to nationalise what he liked, when he liked.

“That charge could be disproved if Mr Wilson told them what exactly he proposed. Macleod said the Conservatives would fight the next election on the basis of their own positive policies.

“The Labour Party were wedded to the policy of further nationalisation and still appeared to regard it as the cure for each and all of our national problems. ‘ We know nationalisation as a blank of future policy is as out of date as the dinosaur,’ he said. ‘But if a dinosaur were to stand as a candidate in your constituency at the next election, you would hardly vote for it.

“‘ The fact that our material prosperity has reached a high level seems to offend many Socialists. They appear to regard it as a mark of decadence and a sure sign we are neglecting the public social services.”

Labour were to win the next General Election, in October 1964, putting Harold Wilson into No 10.