I am sorry on the whole that the Government got
the Third Reading of its Bill reversing the decision of the Labour Government that licensed houses in the New Towns should be publicly-owned. State ownership has never had a fair trial on a sufficiently large scale, and this would have made a useful experiment that would hurt nobody. As for the proposal that tied houses should be barred in these new communities, I have theoretical sympathy with it, as I have with freedom in most spheres. But the fact remains that, as costs of building and equipment go today, not many private licence-holders, or would-be licence-holders, have the capital available. Most brewers have, and the average tied house, I think, is likely to be better fitted-up than the free house. That is important, for a public-house should be a place where there is more to do than to lean against a counter and drink what, I fancy, is no longer four-ale.
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