On Tuesday an interesting announcement was made by the Times
to the effect that the Government had been seriously considering the possibility of resorting to a Referendum on the Budget as an alternative to a General Election. The Referendum would require statutory sanction, but the feasibility of the scheme and its advantages, both to the Government and the country, were clearly set out is the Times. The Ministerial Press scouts the suggestion as absurd and impracticable, but no official denial has yet been forthcoming. We deal with the subject at length in another column, but may content ourselves here with saying that, although the application of the Referendum to the Budget may not be free from difficulties or wholly justified by precedent, the principle is so important that no opportunity for its introduction should be lightly disregarded.
