LONDON -- The popular image in Japan is that Britain is a society governed by confrontation and that this has been the source of British failures. Japan, on the other hand, is a society where consensus prevails, and this has led to harmony and to economic success. The popular image is at best a caricature and many increasingly acknowledge this, but the Japanese belief that consensus is always better than confrontation needs to be questioned.

While confrontation has been damaging in labor relations in Britain, it has become much less prominent in recent years. Unions and employers in Britain have become much readier to seek mutually acceptable solutions than in the past, and strikes that used to damage the British economy are far less frequent. Indeed, the British labor-relations record is now among the best in Europe, despite or perhaps because of the comparatively greater flexibility of labor regulation in Britain than in Europe. Of course, there are still some pockets of imbecility, especially in nonprivatized industries such as the London subway system or the British postal system where unreconstructed Old Labor unionists exercise undue influence, but surely their days are numbered.

Political confrontation in Britain is often criticized by foreign observers who compare some of the antics in the House of Commons to that of unruly schoolchildren in a school playground. In fact, the present situation in Parliament is no worse than it used to be. Many of the antics can be written off as simply excessive exuberance intended for show.