7 APRIL 1933, Page 3

The Indian debates have concluded in the Commons with some

loss of influence to the Churchill group. Mr. Churchill sat on his speech too long and the egg was addled, though the fact would not have been so apparent if he had not made an ill-judged charge of favouritism against the Indian Civil Services. In the Lords, the debates on the same subject have begun and are less than usually academic because of the part which the Lords arc to play upon the Joint Select Committee and because the House of Lords contains so many experts on Indian affairs. The best of the opening speeches was Lord Lothian's, chiefly because he did not attempt too much to placate criticism of the White Paper, but Lord Sankey's journey over the familiar ground of the proposals was also impressive.