This issue is not a typical issue of The — Our journal oo
vide busy, active socialists with a digest of the main sources 0 cdentiok. x highlights those aspects of this mass of sane ; which help socialists in their day-to day work, It is mainly on “ that we have built up, in a comparatively short space of time, @ ee ge network of corresps4yents and subscribers. These correspondents = ae news items and local reports which’ means that all readers are kept up date on both local and national developments «
A sample copy of The Week is readily available from:
The Week, AES
54, Park Rde,
Lenton,
The Times published the next item as its first leader the day after
i Plan was published: : : sh yee ee saaccosiale may be held about some of the detailed arith= metic, the appearance of the National Plan deserves a warm welcome, It contains a first-class analysis of the British economy. More than this, however, it involves a greater commitment to long-term planning than has been accepted before, except in time of war. Not merely Mr. George Brown and his ministry, but the whole Government are committed in support of the plan. So, by implication, . are both sides of industry, The statement published after last month's meeting of the National Economic Development Council said that both the Council and the economic deelopment committees (the "Little Neddies") accepted their responsibilities "in overcoming the obstacle to growth revenled in the National Plan."
"Commitment by the Government also involves a willingness by the Labour Party to change some of their traditional doctrines for the sake of securing economic expansion, In the plan wage-related social benefits are given priority over the idea of a national minimum. More foreign investment in Britain is accepted as desirable, Advantages are seen in encouraging mergers and amalgamations to take place in certain industries, It is recognised that incentives may have to be offered to achieve the saving and investment needed to support the desired rate of growth. A non-party point of the greatest substance is that if the whole of the Government support the plan then at l«st the Treasury - and the Department of Economic Affairs - have gained supremacy over the spending departments," (our emphasis)
The Financial Times returned to consideration of the National Plan on September 18th, after having written about it in very much the same vein as the other papers I have quoted. It had this to say about reactions to the Plan:
“This sceptical attitude towards the Plan was plainly voiced both in the City and in the Tory party, when Mr, Heath at soe coca Ur, George Brown of "ballyhoo", The Tories would be unwise to overplay this scepticism, since the Plan does contain several points of value to the economy and of real interest to businessmen, But two eventie fimediatel shown how difficult it will he to keep close to the schedule the Plan lays down. _The first event was the August trade figures, which showed sharp widening of the gap between imports and exports pan thus a temea likelihood that, in the near future, the Government will be able t via the extra incentives the Plan requires, The second development in “gag different field altogether, was the award of the equival ¢ f a rise to Government workers in atomic energy, thiaharttiraets pes ol 2 no way to the Government's incomes policy, which ia ation awards conform he Plan, > an integral part of
"Having said all this, a
; : » & good deal of the providing a guideline for industrial develo
pment, There i Masia es has been set for coal, which is now put at TTOMTaE Pe instead of Lord Robens! original 200 million tons; this palates teas rial aims, There is a fairly brave e al statement of indust.
; plan for agriculture invol analgamation of small farms into larger units, and, more pena =
,
planning of investment five years ahe i
ad reinfo i - co — efficient firms, On er tes <a hers ghee on BF pas ee gap" with Suggestions for the a ar x aining workers to make good at least a part of the Tabeee ana
Plan has real merit in