It looks as though the difficulties between Mr. Bevan and
the doctors are on the way to settlement. The Minister's statement on basic salary and other points has changed the whole atmosphere, and the interview between him and the B.M.A. representatives on Monday was, I understand, marked by a new spirit of accommoda- . tion. There are still various secondary questions to settle, and a minority of completely die-hard doctors no doubt exists, but I shall be surprised if the new plebiscite which the B.M.A. is to take immediately does not decisively reverse the result of the first. This 'second plebiscite is essential because by the first members of the B.M.A. are pledged not to co-operate in working the Health Act as it stood. The changes Mr. Bevan has promised give them moral release from that undertaking, and the second plebiscite will give them formal release. There will still be time before July 5th to make the machinery of the Act effective—so far as a shortage of bricks and timber permits.
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