In the House of Commons on Wednesday the Labour Party
objected to the President, of the Board of Trade being put up by the Government to answer the vote of censure on the coal-mines question. They demanded that Mr. Baldwin should speak at once. As Mr. Baldwin naturally would not throw over his Minister, whose Department was, of course, immediately concerned, the Labour Party shouted in chorus till the Speaker had to adjourn the House. We do not know now what the Government would have said. There was no debate. The incident was a deplorable abuse of Parliament. The Labour Party might have been able to prove that Sir Philip Cunliffe-Lister's defence was wholly inadequate, and that Mr. Baldwin would be entirely shirking his responsibility if he did not take control. They threw away all opportunity of proving anything of the sort. The situation in the mines is critical and those who desired information were left in ignorance.
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