South Yorkshire Times, October 16th 1943
The Coal Debate
A good many straws which have hovered in the wind for the last few weeks were vigorously blown away by the Prime Minister’s speech in the debate on the coal situation on Wednesday. The great point, of course, was Mr. Churchill’s present rejection of the demand for nationalisation, the advocates of which had of late become exceedingly vocal.
It was hardly a surprising pronouncement. The wonder was that it had to be made at all, for the Government had previously pledged itself not to undertake any such far-reaching and controversial change without giving the country the opportunity to demonstrate its feelings through a General Election. However, misgivings about production had revived the issue and now, in his refreshing way, Mr. Churchill has cleared the air.
Throughout his career as national leader since he took over in the dark days of Dunkirk, Mr. Churchill has never done anything to earn him the title of a facile optimist. In the light of this record his calm and common-sense review of the coal situation will carry the more weight. He wasted no time in sanctimonious chiding of the miners, in whose difficulties he displayed an understanding interest and a ready sympathy. What facts and figures he did put forward placed the output position in faithful perspective. Most important of all he gave the miners the assurance that the present system of control, plus any improvements which may be made to it, will be continued after the war until Parliament decides the future structure of the industry, This was a reiteration of an undertaking given by the Minister of Fuel and Power in his opening speech the day before, and it means that there will be no repetition of the sorry plight in which the miners found themselves after the last war owing to the Government’s short-sighted and premature withdrawal of control.
Furthermore, an assurance was given that the Government would be ready to go into post-war problems with representatives of the industry to obviate uncertainty about the future. It was hardly to be expected that Mr. Churchill’s statement would receive the universal approval of the House. The Labour Members betrayed their disappointment and inferred that the Premier was taking too sanguine a view of the outlook. This impeachment, extraordinary enough against a leader who took office with a slogan of blood and toil, tears and sweat, will be put to the test of time. Last year Mr. Churchill’s confidence was not misplaced. It must be justified again. In any case, there is no intrinsic magic in the word nationalisation which will miraculously force up coal output. Such a violent overturn of the present system, as the Premier remarked, would cause more trouble than it was worth. As likely as not its immediate effect on output, which is the chief criterion, would be adverse. This is essentially an issue for the country and at the proper time, which is certainly not now the country will decide it.