The Week in Parliament
THE debates on the Unemployment Insurance Bill in the House of Commons have been extraordinarily interesting. On Thursday of last week Mr. Percy Harris, on behalf of the Liberal Party, moved an amendment designed to secure training for all unemployed persons under the age of eighteen as a condition of the receipt of unemployment benefit. This was supported, in a speech of exceptional power, by Mr. Hore-Belisha, whose analysis of the pledges and undertakings given by the Labour Party prior to the election in regard to this matter was very damaging to the Government. But although Major Elliot and Major Davies, for the Conservatives, and Mr. Lloyd George himself begged the Minister of Labour to give way, Miss Bondfield remained obdurate. In the subsequent division, the Government secured a comfortable majority over both the Opposition parties, and this result has been attributed in some quarters to the slackness of the Conservative back-benchers. The grounds for such an allegation are, to say the least of it, flimsy.
The statement that -a three-line whip was issued is untrue. No special warning was given to the rank- and-file of the Unionist party to " stand by." Moreover, the curious opinion was held by a considerable number of them that a Government defeat at this juncture, on an issue raised by the rival party in Opposition, would serve no useful purpose.
On Monday and Tuesday the storm from the Clyde broke over the heads of the unfortunate occupants of the Treasury bench. It has assumed far more formidable proportions than were at first anticipated. Mr. Fenner Brockway, Mr. Wheatley, and Mr. Beckett led the attack on the first day, and all did well. Mr. Max-ton took command on Tuesday. And it was significant that with every division the numbers of the malcontents grew. A special word of praise is due to Miss Jenny Lee, who moved an amendment to increase the children's allowances from two shillings to five. She spoke under circumstances of considerable difficulty—to a packed and critical House, with a hostile majority on her own benches—and the speech was quite excellent ; courageous, restrained, sincere, ably developed.
Miss Bondfield did not handle the situation very happily. Indeed, she has made few attempts to handle any situation beyond reading out, as rapidly as possible, the briefs supplied by her Department. If the Prime Minister and the Government are disposed to feel complacent about their position, and to minimize the gravity of the Left-wing revolt, they are in for a rude awakening. Messrs. Maxton, Wheatley, Brockway, Wise, Beckett, and Brown, together with Miss Wilkinson and Miss Lee, constitute a powerful debating force in the House, and their influence on the Labour Movement in the country, although imponderable, cannot be ignored. They mean business. And they smash the Minister of Labour in argument every time that an issue arises between them—a pretty frequent occurrence these days.
Meanwhile, the resentment amongst " orthodox " Labour members against what they regard as wrecking tactics grows, and with it the rift in the parliamentary Labour Party. This situation was inevitable. But it has developed with unexpected rapidity, and may well-pre- cipitate a political crisis of the first order unless the powers that be take far more drastic steps to cope with it than those at present contemplated.
As for the Opposition parties, they can well afford to congratulate themselves on the sagacity which has marked their conduct throughout these debates, and the present trend of events in the House of Commons, which
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