LONDON LETTER MR BUTLER’S BUDGET GENERALLY APPROVED

Press, Volume LXXXVIII, Issue 26692, 28 March 1952, Page 6

LONDON LETTER MR BUTLER’S BUDGET GENERALLY APPROVED

(From

NEVILE WEBBER.

London Corr*»powd«»t of "Th* Preu"]

London. March 14.-On Tuesday, afternoon the whole nation was like a , terrified schoolboy wincing with apprehension as schoolmaster Butler, bared his arm and raised the cane. ■ We were expecting a severe drubbing from the Chancellor’s Budget. Cigarettes up to 4s 6d a packet, said | the knowing ones. Beer up a penny, I income tax Is in the £, stiffer hire purchase terms, no subsidies on food or housing, toughness all round. This time, unlike in the past, the remedies would be really serious. The harsh whip of austerity would bite deeply to teach us all just how parlous was Britain’s financial position. Instead, we were subjected to an almost benevolent pat—-income tax rebates that more than offset the increase in food subsidies. True, petrol was up, imports were further restricted, interest rates up to 4 per ceht., and for companies there was the unpleasant news of a severe excess profit* tax. But cigarettes and beer and most other things the ordinary taxpayer is concerned about remained as they were. . , Although some valid criticisms can be made and are being made by economic experts, who suggest that Mr Butler’s measures are not severe enough, most people agree that it was a brilliant effort. It was certainly so from a political aspect. Although the Opposition and some trade unions are trying to whip themselves into a frenzy of indignation, they can really find few serious grounds for complaint. Even the nro-Labour “Daily Mirror” conceded that Mr Butler should be given credit for his “honest” effort, while to-day, I see it* leading columnist “Cassandra ’ says it wa* “adept, shrewd, smart—a bit too smart —and politically one of the neatest job* that has ever come out of the Exchequer's red dispatch box.” Only the Labour “Daily Herald" and the "Daily Worker” (Communist) could castigate it, the latter saying it was “the most vicious class Budget in history,” and openly urging strike* and direct action by the workers. "The Times” praised It as a “hopeful Budget”; the "Financial Times” said it was s brave”; the "News Chronicle" “honest and courageous”; the "Express” said it was “an immense suede**.” Everyone I have spoken to agrees that it was a very pleasant surprise. The stocks of Mr Butler have soared, and there is little doubt that ha ha* zoomed up to be on* of the most popular and respected Ministers in the Conservative Government. The prophets who have Mid all along that it should be Butler, not Eden, to take over leadership of the party when Mr Churchill goes, ar* rubbing their hands with complacent glee.

Londe* Fare* are Still Cheap? ' I fail to see why there has been such a scream of protests against th* recent increase in th* price of bus and train fares her* in London. True, there has been a general increase of 20 per cent, to bring the standard charge for each mile up to lid (it was lid), while in some isolated instance* the rise has been M per cent. But London still ha* the cheapest transport in th* world, with a bus rid* from one aide of th* city to th* other four miles costs 6d against 4d. Visitors from abroad cannot understand what all the protests are about, A recently arrived New Zealand friend Mid yesterday: "At home our lares are two to three time* what they ere in However, as with so many other grievances, I am quit* certain that the violence of the protests owes more to political opportunism than to genuine

Canny Beets WjUt and See ArsWJE Shotte transmitter will officially open to relay television to Scotland for the first time. It is to be a gala night of insufferable Sassenachs south of the border. But in TV headquarters all is not joy, for statistics show that although 40,000 sets have been sold, only 750 licenses have been taken out. Evidently those canny Scots are waiting to see whether it is all worth £2.

Fotttate Ben to to fitratford-uiMs-Aven At Stratford-upon-Avon the smiles are out-dazzling the brilliant spring

It was lust before Christmas and 28-year-old Mr* Edith JSuell was looking round the shop* for a suitable present to send a woman she suspected of associating with her husband. Then she had a brilliant idd* why not send a rat .The upshot waa heard in Court this week when she was summoned for sending through th* post a “noxious uubstance, to wit, a rat.” Her defehding counsel claimed there was no car* to answer, since "it was not a noxious type of rat; it was what Robert Browning, the poet, described once m a ‘gay young frisk®-.' It wa* caiafct only th* night before. It was in the pin* of condition." Tho discharged Mrs Pfuell unconditionally. “I didn t mean to do any real harm,” She said afterwards. “I felt I had * right to do what I did.”

sunshine. The shopkeepers are ling about humming “Happy Dayg Here Again" as they put out th. picture postcards and souvenirs; mZ: the score of Tudor Tea Shoppe* all t*. tables and chairs have been brouZS out from store. Hotel-keepers am n. furbishing their historical ancedete and the silky waters of the Avon "Z? ,thick with knowledgeable swsny ducks from far abroad. The course, is that last nighi the iwlX was rung up at the Memorial Theatre for the opening performance of “CoriZ lanus,” tne first Shakespearean play the coming 30-weeks season. Booktam for the months ahead are very ’ and at least 300,000 visitors are txnae.* ted for the theatre alone. They brin. money for all. Shakespeare is ug business at Stratford-upon-Avon. ~ Tee Muck FuMieity for VX. Private ("Big Bill”) Speakman, th. 6ft 6in infantryman from the Scottish Borderers, won the V.C. in Korea last year and six weeks ago the hero ar rived home to receive his medal from the Queen and to become an officer Speakman was faced with nothing but crowds, cameras, autograph books and curious stares. A shy, retiring man but at ease among his army friends Speakman grew more and more un happy u at e J bla .^ e . of Publicity in which he lived. If he went to a nlav a spotlight would seek him out and to the insistent demands he would have to stand and mumble 6 few words; if h. went shopping autograph hunters would mob him; and if he went to * pub he could never have a quiet chat without stranger* bunting in to IhuZ on buying him a drink. Charity or. ganiaers pestered him continually T come to functions and his mornta. mail bulged with letters from stranzen Finally, he could stand it no lodom-' he beseeched his commanding oSrer to return him to Korea; and so h. sailed back this week.

Are the English too American? Sir Alexander Maxwell, chairman ot the British Travel and Holidays Asso ciation, makes an interesting point this w«ck. He suggests that the English are not foreign enough to make land a real draw to the all-important American tourists. Sir Alexander, wh o is himself a Scot, said this did not apply to the Scots or Welsh; and he therefore suggested that the tourist industry should borrow a few to meet incoming planes and ships to imnsM on arriving Americans that they hid really quit the good old U.SA. Most Americans I have approached do not agree. They find the slow tempo of life in Britain entirely differ., ent some find it refreshing; man frustrating. Driving on the right hand side of the road, money, pageantry old homes, history and "your fascinating English dialect” interest them mightily. But in the big hotels and shop* of London they do not find such a difference. Nylon* Far AH The unhappiest men about latoan just now are the drape-suited atari who sell nylons illegally in the streets For a mirscle is happening: the Bmh are selling cherished nylons qriS openly and without any queue* K h the windows of many store* I jum seen then) displayed with ticket* "*». on* served.” No longer need wmmb shoppers beg and beseech or buy ■ unwanted dress or half a doun p*m of rayon stocking* to get one precises pair at nylons. Dramatically, the talance between supply and demand ms swung over and now there are nylons for all at from 10* 3d to 17s lid a pair. A Rat For The Rival