Cold Coinfort for Durham The Prime Minister gave an extremely
disappointing reply to a question in the House about unemployment in the distressed areas of Durham. His answer was the conventional one that the Government's policy aimed at creating employment " in the country as a whole," and that he had every hope that the trade improvement would extend to the depressed places: Does this mean that Mr.• MacDonald (a Durham member himself) does not admit the difference between the distress which has arisen in all parts of the country as a result of the trade depres- sion and the exceptional distress of certain districts, whose industries have been continuously declining for a dozeh-years and have• no prospect ,of full ,recovery even if a wave of prosperity comes to the rest of the country ? To deny that its problem is a special one, calling for exceptional measures, is to send to Durham a message of despair. Fortunately the Minister of Labour is said to be contemplating action which suggests that he by no means shares the Prime Minister's views, for his reported plans mean that parts of Durham will be treated definitely as special areas.
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