A Spectator's Notebook
33EFORE I WRITE again, the changes in Sir Anthony Eden's Government, may have been announced. I am surprised to find that none of the 'informed' political correspondents predict the departure of Dr. Charles Hill, who has had a trying initia- tion as Postmaster-General. On the face of it, the arguments for returning, him to the back benches, where he arrived dis- guised as an odd mixture of National, Liberal and Conservative, are overwhelming. He has interpreted the Television Act in such a way that the powers and opportunities of interference of the Postmaster-General have been consistently increased. Mr. Gammans, the Assistant Postmaster-General, gave the show away in the House of Commons on June 14, when he said that it was he—presumably on Dr. Hill's instructions—who had suggested the appropriate amount of time which should be devoted to advertising, and that the role of the ITA had been, 'after very careful consideration,' to 'come to the same con- clusion.' This eagerness to increase his departmental powers— he must also share the responsibility for imposing the fourteen- day rule on the BBC and the ITA by decree—is a little difficult to equate with his 'Liberal' prefix. Yet, I must not be too hard on Dr. Hilt There is always the possibility that Sir Anthony Eden, in getting rid of him, might replace him by the Assistant PMG. Dr. Hill, I have to admit, has his uses.
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