The Tangled Webb
It might have been thought that the ultimate depth of irony had been reached when, in the Commons last week, the Govern- ment received what was in effect a vote of confidence in its meat policy at a time when not only the Opposition and the public but also a large number of Labour M.P.s knew that that policy had been utterly botched. But there may be worse to come. Since not only the Ministry of Food but also the Treasury, the Foreign Office and the Board of Trade are entangled in the Argentine meat negotiations, the chances are that there will be still more weeks of delay before the Government admits that it cannot hold down the world price of meat by its own unaided efforts. And in the interim the world price may well go up. Already the situation has been reduced to one of com- plete confusion by the Minister of Food's pathetic belief that the cost of living can be kept down by the methods of King Canute, and by the misapplication of the techniques of diplomacy to the business of food trading. If this goes on more may be at stake than the political future of Mr. Maurice Webb. The Government has got itself into a position in which its very survival may depend on its ability to cover up the errors of one of its weakest Ministers. It is an utterly false position. The only right course is to cut clean through this tangle by admitting that the negotiations with Argentina have been mismanaged. Any attempt by the Government to save its face is hopeless. It cannot hide facts which all the world can see. The ration is down to tenpennyworth of meat a week (including corned beef) ; the butchers are being paid £450,000 a week for not selling meat: the offer of £104 a ton for Argentine beef bears no relation to world prices ; and as time goes on the difficulties are likely to become not smaller, but greater.
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