The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary correspondent writes : The
result of the Putney by-election. where the Government majority slumped from 21,000 to under 8.000, a drop of nearly. 6,000 even on the 1929 figures. has had a more depressing effect on the Government supporters than any other by- election since Fulham. It was noticeable that when the new member took his seat on Monday the demon- stration on the Government side of the House was very tepid, compared with t he loud ironical cheers from the Labour benches. 111.. Oliver Stanley in moving the second reading of the Depressed Areas Bill improved on his already high record as an exponent of Government policy. It was a speech finely conceived and lit up with one or two delicious flashes of humour. His ragging of Mr. Macmillan, once his eulicague on the back-benches, who reminded him of the days when " he too dwelt in Arcady and when my hon. friend and I used to pour forth twin streams of rather hike-warm lava," was admirably done. Ile asked t he Labour spokesman " to tell the House exactly what their proposals were, to deal with the coal industry and to do away with the distressed areas," a challenge which was never really taken up, though Mr. Aneurin Bevan made a brave attempt.
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