Coventry Sets a Fashion The Socialist city council of Coventry
considered that in the era of the hydrogen bomb it was a waste of time and money to carry on with the civil defence committee. And so they did away with it. But if their gesture is going to save time for the city fathers it is not going to save any money for the ratepayers. By handing over their responsibilities to the Home Secretary, who has appointed a commission to run civil defence in the city, the council have also forfeited the seventy-five per cent. grant paid by the Home Office. Coventry will now have to bear all the costs of its civil defence arrange- thents, and that will mean something like £15,000 (or 2d. in the pound) on the rates. There is also the possibility that the city may have to pay the costs of the commission itself. The citizens may come to the conclusion that the grand gesture of their local governors is on the expensive side. At the time it was not altogether without its value; although there was too much naive talk about strengthening the hands of ' inter- national statesmen ' who wanted to ' ban the bomb,' it did draw attention to the inadequacy of the Government's plans for civil defence. But since then the Home Secretary has indicated that things are moving at last in the right direction, and Coventry would have done well to withdraw quietly, satisfied that a' good point had been made. Now another Socialist Council—Tottenham's—has drawn inspiration from Coventry and done likewise. Birmingham also, although more Cautiously, is setting out on the same track. This is a dangerous tendency and should be checked. One theatrical gesture was uite enough. If it gave the Government a jolt, so much the , etter. But even Socialist city councils should know that you Can have too much of a good thing.
Previous page
