Lord Cecil is reported to have said of Mr. Lloyd
George, whom in the days of the Coalition he disliked more than any man in public life, that " the fellow was so con- foundedly efficient." That is the grudging admission now of the Tory Party about Mr. Hore-Belisha, who introduced the Ribbon Development Bill in a speech that was a model of ministerial statement. It was clear, admirably phrased, well documented and short. There is no doubt that despite all the prejudice against him Mr. Hore-Belisha 'is' winning by sheer merit a great position for himself in the Honk. It was unfortunate that the opposition to the Bill was in charge of Mr. Arthur Greenwood. He has no gift of restrained criticism. Every measure of the Government is to him an abomina- tion, and he exhausted his vocabulary of invective in his efforts to prove how much he disliked the Government proposals. For all that the Labour Party were not able to keep the debate going until eleven o'clock. On the whole the Bill received a favourable reception, even Lord Hartington, the leader of the laissez faire opposition in this Parliament, agreeing to vote for it and to refrain from obstruction if it was sent to a Standing Committee.
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