Mr. Bevin commands even greater confidence. He intro- duced a
small bill, increasing benefits and contributions to keep pace with the cost of living. He made no apologies in his maiden speech. Why should he? He knows his subject inside out. He has now included within the scope of Unemployment Insurance those who earn £8 a week. At last the black-coated worker, if the description still is an accurate one, comes into his own. It remains to bring him under Health Insurance and to give .some unity to our haphazard growth of social services, as Mr. Graham White suggested in one of his quiet, informative speeches. But we expect more from Mr. Bevin. He must convert his Ministry of Labour into a genuine Ministry of Employment and National Service. He too is introducing new blood or old blood from the Universities and the outside world, the latest additions being Sir /William Beveridge and Mr. G. D. H. Cole.
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