GRINDING ON
THE Prime Minister complained in his speech at Padiham last week that the course which the Government is follow- ing is not always fully understood by the public and the press. There have been a number of similar grumbles from other Ministers recently. Perhaps they really are misunderstood. On the other hand it is only a little over twelve months ago that Ministers were talking about doubling the standard of living within a generation. Now Sir Anthony Eden warns us that Britain is in 'mortal peril' of 'poverty by stages.' So there is, after all, scope for some misunderstanding. To his Lancashire audience he revealed that he had `mentioned' to Mr. Nehru that discussions about textile problems between India and Britain would be in the interests of both parties. This was the only new point in his speech, but even so it may well have failed to excite textile men to any great enthusiasm. For the rest, the speech was the usual compound of high-sounding generalities taken from routine departmental briefs and ground down to the level of dullness and platitude which we have come to expect from the Prime Minister. It is all very well trying as the Government does to exorcise inflation by exhortation and incantation. But that requires a touch of political magic which none of the present members of the Cabinet commands.
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