A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK
MEMBERS of the Labour Party, in appealing to the President of the Board of Trade from time to time to release more newsprint for the daily papers, have urged the desirability of enabling the papers to publish better reports of Parliament. The increased supply is now. available, and some of its consequences can be examined. The Daily Herald on Tuesday gave a report of the debate on housing in the House of Commons the previous day. It was, for the Herald, a fairly extended report, running, apart from headings, to about 33 inches. Rather more than 29 inches are given to Labour speakers, rather more than three inches to all the rest. Was Labour really so vocal, and the Opposition really so silent, as this? What story does Hansard, which reports every speech verbatim, tell? Examination there reveals that Labour speakers occupy 53 columns and the.rest 64. The Herald percentage is therefore roughly 89 to II in favour of Labour, the Hansard percentage roughly 55 to 45 against Labour. This is one way of reporting Parliament. But even this does not lead me to favour an enquiry, into the control and conduct of the Press. For no one can impose conditions on a paper in regard to its report- ing. That must be left to its conscience, even if it hasn't got one.
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