A Demand for Action The remarkable meeting held in Cardiff
on Tuesday night is an instructive comment on the complacency with which the Government, through the mouth of the Lord President of the Council, has recently spoken of its work in the " special " areas. It was attended by 400 representatives of all the public authorities in South Wales—bishops, clergy, ministers, employers and workmen. A Conservative M.P. said that a national emergency existed in South Wales, Sir Rhys Williams spoke of the ".loquacious ineptitude of Ministers," the Rev. John Roberts of the lifeblood of Glamorgan and Monmouth which had been drained away, and the Deputy Mayor of Merthyr said, " For twelve years we have gone through hell." This is strong but not exag- gerated language, and the anger and resentment it expresses can be understood when, as the Lord Mayor of Cardiff said, the Government has failed to carry out a single one of the thirty concrete proposals to assist South Wales made by the Commissioner for Special Areas. The meeting passed a resolution urging the immediate appointment of a Cabinet Committee to deal with the problem. The demand is reasonable, and it is to be hoped that if such a body is appointed it will have the courage not to flinch from words or action that would expose the Government's past failure to deal with the situation.
Previous page
