Mr. Lawson did a good service on Monday's adjournment by
drawing attention to the evidence given on behalf of the Board of Trade before the Royal Commission on the Location of Industry. The Board's contention that the present dis- tribution of industrial enterprise is well adapted to serve the economic interests of the country as a whole is not calculated to appeal to those who speak for the industrial north. The Commissioners for the Special Areas have come to a very different conclusion. Sir Malcolm Stewart has given it as his opinion that much of the growth of Greater London is not based on strictly economic factors but that psychology plays an important part. Mr. Oliver Stanley, defending his Department, argued that its only concern had been to inform the Commission of what it believed to be the facts. The Board, he said, based its conclusion on the narrowest economic grounds. The Government as a whole was in no way committed, and other Departments would be free to call attention to the wider social and strategic considera- tions. The explanation seems convincing. But Members in all parties hope that the Royal Commission will not be unduly influenced by the Board of Trade view.
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