The second reading of the Education Bill was moved in
the Commons on Monday by Mr. McKenna, who, while admitting that the Bishop of St. Asaph's Bill called for grave con- sideration, declared that there was no change in the policy of the Government. Failing a concordat, he feared the secular solution was ultimately inevitable. The Govern- ment, he explained, intended to ask for a second reading, and if afterwards an agreement could be arrived at, amendments giving it effect would as far as possible be adopted. Failing agreement, the Government proposed to proceed with the Bill as it stood. Lord Balcarres, who moved an amendment rejecting the Bill, condemned it as a madcap scheme which had not found a single defender on either side of the House. Mr. Redmond stated that the Nationalists would vote against the second reading, but might be reconciled if the contracting-out proposal, which meant starvation and destruc- tion to the Roman Catholic schools, were abandoned. Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, while promising the Government the support of the Labour Party in the division, said that they were not going to accept contracting out, and observed that Mr. McKenna had nothing to say for his Bill. All he said was : "I produce this Bill; whether I stick to it or not is another matter ; if I can come to an arrangement on this Bill with the Bishop of St. Asaph or the Archbishop of Canter- bury, within certain wide limits, then I am prepared to produce a Bill different in lock, stock, and barrel."
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