overtones of crisis . whatever magician &apos;s wand of economic recovery the Chancellor may flourish in the next few days , it is impossible not to feel that the government has come rather ill out of the preliminary skirmishes . July is a traditional month for economic crises , and the beginning of the period of seasonal weakness for sterling . in 1955 , 1957 and 1961 it has also been the month in which the government has chosen to create a national sense of economic anxiety . in fact , this time the recognition of the crisis comes surprisingly late , for Britain &apos;s trading position deteriorated sharply last year , and is now getting slightly better rather than worse . the government &apos;s propaganda may indeed have over-reached itself . undoubtedly the Chancellor &apos;s speeches , and the Prime Minister &apos;s blunt warnings to the 1922 committee , were intended to prepare the nation and the conservative party for strong measures to put the economy right . these warnings , however , have run too far ahead of action . after so long a period of uncertainty we are left with a sense more of emergency than of urgency . nor has this helped the national confidence . there is a growing feeling that the economic crisis is only a symptom of a profounder failure to find Britain &apos;s proper international position in the post-war world . the delay in working out the new economic policies , and in deciding on our European policy , has left an impression that the government does not itself know what to do . certainly there has been a lack of that sort of leadership which inspires national unity . current bickering about the surtax concessions in the budget evades the point . the government is not to be blamed for wanting a more dynamic economy with higher incentives , but it has failed to explain to the nation any consistent and practical policy to achieve expansion , and it has therefore failed to carry the nation along with it . the economic measures which are going to be introduced will need to be tough , and must be judged primarily by their effectiveness ; but it is also very important that they should be fair . the mixture of slow economic growth with financial get rich quick in recent years has been wholly bad in its social effects . the sacrifices that are now to be called for must be carried by the whole country and not by any one section of it . the general public , and the trade unions , will be the more willing to accept the need for restraint , for earning first and buying later , if they can see a clear objective which sacrifices will help to achieve , and if those sacrifices fall as heavily on the private sector as on the workers . liking Yuri . the wave of goodwill that has accompanied Major Yuri Gagarin has been remarkable , not least for its apparent detachment from conventional Anglo-Soviet attitudes . after all , he arrived here hard on the heels of Mr Khrushchev &apos;s declaration that Russia must spend substantially more on arms because the west was doing so , and of an impressive and well-publicised display of Soviet air-power . these were not ideal heralds . nor is his undoubted success entirely accountable in terms of his personal charm , great though that is , nor of the presence of the Russian trade fair . what in fact Major Gagarin seems to have done is to have shown us how much we want to like the Russians , in a spirit of genuine neighbourliness . this , and the fact that British visitors to Russia usually find a reciprocal warmth of welcome there , is surely a portent worth noting by the political leaders on both sides . giant of the left . Mr Frank Cousins &apos;s success in maintaining the support of his transport and general workers &apos; union for the lost-cause campaign of unilateralism is a personal triumph , though it is fortunately unlikely to affect Mr Gaitskell &apos;s new firm control of his party . but the Brighton conference at which he won a 3 to 1 victory is important for other reasons . the extent of the personality cult which has sprung up around Mr Cousins astonished many observers . the nadir came after the disarmament vote , when his principal opponent unblushingly declared : I feel like a dwarf in the shadow of a great man . the big stick of the T.G.W.U , with its 1,250,000 well-disciplined members , is now held firmly in the left hand of Mr Cousins . in the days of his distinguished predecessors , Ernest Bevin and Arthur Deakin , the union was always inclined to the right . it seems that T.G.W.U politics depend upon the personal views of the man who heads its permanent machine . the majority trot comfortably in the wake of the reigning giant . it is a disturbing view of democracy . south bank puzzles . the non-party enterprise of the London county council in stimulating at least the possibility of action over the national Theatre is wholly commendable . but it is clear from the latest proposals that the problems involved have not been adequately thought out ; when the council meets on Tuesday to consider the report of its general purposes committee it will be faced with the raw material for many hours &apos; debate . the suggestion that Sadler &apos;s Wells opera should join the national Theatre on the south bank entirely changes the whole picture . in a statement to the Sunday Times yesterday , reported elsewhere , Sir Isaac Hayward said that it may be necessary to think of three auditoriums . there is no question of may : such an extension will be quite essential if the national Theatre is not to be reduced to a travesty of what it should be . in any case the whole building will have to be redesigned . perhaps this is no bad thing , for the existing plans are already twelve years old . if the new proposals are accepted , the design of the new building should be put up to open competition - and a building might emerge at last of which Britain could be proud . the council might also think it wise to ask the Chancellor for a clarification of his statement that his subsidy would be limited to &amp;pound;400,000 : a statement that seems to take no account of the fact that the new building can not in any case be ready for at least three years , nor allows for possible changes in the value of money . 1,000th refugee . Britain received last week her 1,000th refugee under the scheme initiated by world refugee year in June , 1959 . of all the refugees resettled since the first humanitarian impulse of the year , we have taken in almost one-third ; more than any country in the world . most have come from the hard core of physically or socially handicapped families rejected by almost every other state . public response did not drop after the end of the year , and places have already been found for the 100 or so refugees who are still to come before the limit set by the government is reached . but what then ? there are still 80,000 unsettled refugees in Europe . Britain can be proud of the new impetus she has helped to give to this essential task , but where many have shown charity , there have also been apathy and intolerance . no doubt some refugee families have shown ingratitude ; have spurned the houses provided for them , or even returned to their camps . but we can not deny responsibility for the mental as well as the physical condition of those left rootless for sixteen years by a warring world . until the last refugee is resettled our obligations must remain . tell the patient . most doctors will agree with the Minister of health that the patient and all concerned with him have the right to be treated as intelligent persons . most will say that they do tell the patient all he should know about his condition . but , of course , they will invariably add , when pressed , that there are others who are not so forthcoming , so frank or thoughtful . what Mr Powell calls , in modern jargon , the failure of communication is a fact of the medical service , particularly in hospitals , that is not the fault of any small minority . it has persisted into these frank-speaking days as a result of a professional attitude , fostered and inculcated from one generation to the other as a kind of mystique - or as a safeguard against being proved wrong . it is usually justified on the grounds that a little knowledge can be harmful . but , as the Minister says the failure to speak two sentences can cause deep antagonism . training in communication should perhaps be included in the medical student &apos;s curriculum . a call to unity . the British are a realistic people who do not always choose to face reality . at present they are trying to avoid facing not one but a number of crises with an almost desperate complacency . for a few days , a nine-day wonder , it seemed that the economic crisis was really penetrating the national consciousness . but by the end of last week people were waiting for Tuesday with all their usual tepid equanimity ; even the stock exchange was edging upwards . yet at least the economic crisis made some impact . that was more than could be said of the impending decision on the common market , and certainly more than of the crisis of Berlin . the decision to be made on joining Europe is possibly the most important Britain has had to make since the war ; yet no one could claim that the public debate has been on a high level . so great is the apathy that the government could probably go in or stay out without vitally offending either its own followers or the country . the national awareness on Berlin is even more unawakened . this is the gravest of the three crises , one on which the issue of peace or war could turn . the British government has from the beginning sought a negotiated settlement , but has always accepted the basic decision that the people of west Berlin can not be abandoned . yet the national attitude seems almost to be that Berlin is not to be allowed to interfere with the summer holidays . this complacency is a poor basis for policy ; and a poor substitute for that sense of moral purpose for which the Prime Minister and the Chancellor have appealed . the economy , Berlin , the common market - here are three issues whose gravity has during the past few days led to regretful sighings over the impracticability of a national government . the British system has never taken kindly to government by coalition , which is certainly not the answer now ; but almost as disturbing as the national complacency is the apparent lack of any real sense of national unity . party views not far apart . yet even in the economic field , where the division is widest , and where the labour party can most reasonably expect to reap political credit , the judgment and sentiment of the party leaders are not all that far apart . Mr Gaitskell &apos;s speech last Tuesday was a constructive and sensible contribution to the economic debate . on Europe it seems almost certain that Mr Gaitskell would find himself moving along the present line of policy if he were Prime Minister . ( he would be foolish to risk splitting his party in opposition ; governments have to make unpleasant choices , oppositions can avoid them . ) on Berlin again the responsible labour party view and the conservative view are so close as to be indistinguishable . there is therefore a genuine basis for unity , and many people in the country would like that unity to be made apparent , for a bi-partisan policy would undoubtedly strengthen British influence for peace - an influence more necessary now than it has been for years . at present the obstacles to a bi-partisan policy , at any rate over Berlin , are partly personal - Mr Macmillan and Mr Gaitskell have never fought side by side as Lord Attlee and Sir Winston Churchill did in wartime . these differences need to be reconsidered . yet the greater weakness is perhaps the failure to waken the British people . when great issues are shirked , little differences are given more than their proper weight . the call to national unity and the call for national leadership perhaps come in the end to much the same thing . 