The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes :—The main
debate of the week dealt with the problem of derelict areas, where, owing to the permanent closing down of the only or the major industry, unemployment was heavy and chronic. Mr. Runciman and Sir Henry Betterton made a defence of the Government which showed sym- pathy more clearly than policy. Their case was that it was useless to transfer population until there was room for them in industry elsewhere and that the new Un- employment Bill contained provisions to make them fit to move when they could move or be moved. The House of Commons, anxious as ever for drastic action, did not like this reply, but was not very fertile in alterna- tives. The success of the debate was Mr. Lawson, who cast aside his usual explosive manner, and made a restrained speech, full of the personal touches of one who knows his subject compendiously, such as the House of Commons always delights to hear.
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