Housing in . the Dark
The housing problem is essentially one which can be solved sud- denly but not quickly. There must be a long period of preparation of land, materials and men ; a long period of construction ; and a final stage, which in present circumtances may be the longest of all, when the whole job is held up for a bath or a few pots of paint. Consequently large promises and small performance may exist side by side for a long time ; and similarly Parliamentary debates can produce little that is new for a long time. None of the arguments used in the Commons on Tuesday to the effect that private enterprise building would solve the whole problem in a short time, or that the Minister of Health was not keeping his promises, was new. Nor were the counter-arguments that previous Governments had left an Augean stable and that the performance of 1945-46 is better than that of 1918-20. None was new and none was relevant. If there are any simple measurements of the real situation they are firstly figures of site-preparation and houses under construction, and secondly forecasts of future completions. Some information exists on the first point and it is not altogether reassuring. The number of houses under construction increased rather more slowly in June than in May. All sorts of figures are available on the second point, none of them reliable and none drawing the fundamental distinction between objective (what you want), programme (what you intend to do) and forecast (what you think you will do). Instead there is much vague talk trom Lath Government and Opposition, about " targets" and " crystal gazing." Mr. Bevan at least ought to be able to state precise objectives and programmes and he could no doubt produce forecasts too, but since the Opposition would use these figures solely as sticks with which to beat him, he refuses to do it—which means in effect that the public remains in the dark because the politicians cannot be trust; with the light.
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