It is a pity that the spirited protest made by
Mr. Alfred Edwards, the Labour Member for Middlesbrough, on Tuesday night on the subject of M.P.s' disabilities came too late to be fully reported. The Prime Minister had said earlier in the day that the Government was still considering the question of free postage and secretarial services ; but Mr. Edwards wanted much more than that. There was nowhere for Members to work in the House, nowhere for them to live in London, they had only after a fierce battle with the Ministry of Transport secured priority for sleepers. The Member for Middlesbrough will have general support for his insistence (in another connection) that the Treasury should realise that it was the servant and not the master of the House of Commons, but he was putting it high when he claimed that " this is the first time a majority has come into Parliament thoroughly trained for the job they have to do." Who, in fact, trained them, and how? And does the idea of trained legislators commend itself to the electorate?
What the House of Commons needs is men who have proved their competence in various walks of life, and bring their knowledge and experience to the service of the Legislature. No " training " will take the place of that.
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