5 JULY 1935, Page 10

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK

MR. LLOYD GEORGE has, at any rate, kindled expectation. I did not hear his " Council of Action " speech myself, but an M.P., not particularly sympathetic, who did told me that if he had paid half a guinea for his seat he would have felt he had got his money's worth. L. G. is still a great orator, even when he has nothing very new or very startling to say. The future of his campaign is hard to pre- dict. The eve of the holiday season is a bad moment to choose for building up a new. organization.. On the other hand what enthusiasm there is cannot be left to cool till the autumn. The publication of Mr. Lloyd George's " New Deal " programme will be a factor— concrete proposals as a rule rally fewer supporters than safe generalizations. In that connexion The Times' leader of Wednesday arouses curiosity, with its suggestion that there were two editions of the New Deal programme, " the first version being the plans as submitted to the Cabinet Committee, and the second being the revised edition after they had been exposed to the test of reality."