LABOUR GOVERNMENT

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 90, 13 October 1945, Page 6

LABOUR GOVERNMENT

RESTRAINT AT WESTMINSTER

(Special P.A. Correspondent.)

LONDON, October .11;

Though the House of Commons has been sitting for only a few days of the resumed session, the temper of the House is unmistakably restrained. To use a cricket-term to which British people frequently like to resort, the Opposition, led by Mr. Churchill, is making a quiet opening till it gets the feel of the bowling and till a "loose one" comes along. *Then, undoubtedly, they will attempt to smack it and the Government for 6. There are at least two reasons for this attitude. One is that, after a quarter of a century of power, the Conservatives as a party are practically uneducated in the art of opposition—though, of course, this does not apply to Mr. Churchill, who for many years found himself in" opposition to his own party. The other is that the Conservatives, in view of the solid support throughout the country for the Government, realise that they will be "missing the ball and hitting the air" if they oppose the Government on every conceivable occasion. They are doubtless studying public opinion and will strike when they consider that they have a measure of public support. Evidently there is a feeling that the Government's weak spot is housing, for the Opposition has asked for aj debate on this subject. The motion has been put down in the names of Messrs. i Churchill, Eden, Willinfc, and Hudson, expressing grave apprehension at the] housing shortage and urging the Government to give continuous attention to it—a view incidentally to which many of those on the opposite side of the House are undoubtedly also willing to subscribe. This debate may be regarded as in the nature of the opening strike, for testing both the Government reactions «nd those of the public. • An interesting political sidelight is the fact that the principal Government spokesman will be Mr. Aneurin Bevan, who was one of Mr. Churchill's fiercest and most persistent critics in the Coalition days. PRESENT DIFFICULTIES. A third reason might also be added for this restrained note in the Hotise, namely, the acute realisation of the difficult days through which the country is passing and of the effect that indiscriminate opposition might have abroad. For instance, all indications are that there will be little opposition to the Bill for the nationalisation of the Bank1 of England. One reason undoubtedly is that if both the Com-

mons and the City of London oppose this measure, which the Government anyway is determined upon, the reactions abroad to Britain's financial position cannot be other than harmful. This week has seen Opposition members agreeing with Labour Ministers, and even praising them —for instance, Mr. Churchill's approval of Mr. Bevin's statement on the Council of Foreign Ministers—evidence of a desire not to embarrass the Government unnecessarily and also to endorse public opinion. It has even been commented that the Labour Government at present has deviated so little from the principles laid down by the former Cabinet that answers given to.-ques-tions might just as easily have been supplied by ex-Ministers. Another instance of the temperate mood of the Opposition is the fact that, despite previous criticism of the Government's Bill to extend controls from two years (decided upon by the Coalition Government) to five, this too was accepted quietly, Captain Oliver Lyttelton stating: "The general thesis is unassailable." This week has also seen the Government going ahead with its legislation to increase pensions and pay for injured workers. Plans for speeding up peace production by the Government taking over ordnance factories for manufacturing purposes in competition with private firms, the estab-lishment-of regional boards for industry, and navicerts for trade have also been announced. INDUSTRIAL UNREST. The Labour Government, then, can regard this first week as a placid beginning to its Parliamentary career, though outside the House the dockers' strikes and the unrest among the bomb-damage repair men are casting a shadow of industrial unrest. Its nature —the niente defiance of their unions and leaders —must obviously be the cause of some concern to the Labour Party, which boasted all along that, in facing the many complexities of the future, the one thing on. which it could count was the solid support of the workers.

To end on a personal note, it can be said that Mr. Attlee himself has delighted the House by showing that he has a sense of humour —which it must be admitted had been in -some doubt. When Sir Frank Sanderson asked that some steps should be taken to see that Britain was not left standing behind in the next industrial revolution, Mr. Attlee replied: "I can assure the honourable member that we don't intend to be left behind in any revolution." And the House, after, its niomentary surprise at Mr. Attlee making a joke, roared its amusement.