Shabby Decision

Few things can arouse the British as quickly as the opportunity to espouse an underdog's cause. Last week, as the crowded letters columns of the London dailies indicated, many Britons had found just such an opportunity. The object of their concern was Rudi Dutschke, 30, once the wildest of West Germany's radical student leaders. Two years ago, after a right-wing assassin in West Berlin shot him twice in the head, Dutschke came to Britain to recover. He was admitted by the Labor government on the specific condition that he would refrain from any political activity.

Dutschke was too sick to care. He settled with his wife and two children in a flat in Cambridge. When his condition improved, he won admission as a graduate student for the fall term.

The Conservative government of Ted Heath, however, decided that if Dutschke was well enough to study, he no longer qualified as a convalescent. In a convoluted explanation, Home Secretary Reginald Maudling explained that Dutschke should not remain in the country unless he was allowed to practice his political beliefs. Since the previous government had seen fit to prohibit Dutschke from doing so, the Tories intended to expel him by this week.

Cambridge dons and students protested Maudling's decision, while the Times of London, in a throwback to its earlier reputation as "The Thunderer" declared, "It is a shabby and unworthy decision, timorous, insular and morally wrong." Dutschke, who suffered an epileptic seizure apparently as a result of the excitement, last week appealed the decision. If opinion continues to run in his favor, the Tories may well back down rather than risk offending the British concept of fair play.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.