from Geoff Coggan Merchant Banker readers of The Week will be interested in the
roposal to launch a Labour Businessmen's Discussion Group. In a letter is bast week's Economist, a Mr, Grant , of G.F. Grant & Co. Ltd., writes: "The old nationalisation/free enterprise argument is irrelevant .... and is, at the moment narrowed down to one industry - steel," : "Now, at the beginning of what should be a long period of Labour Gove
rnment is the time to break down some of the old suspicion and distrust between : Labour and the City. It is entirely wrong to assume that the City and everyone who works in it is inherently hostile to the ideas and ideals of the present Government," "I should like to start a lunch hour" (on expense account 7) "discussion group which would meet, probably monthly, possibly more often, in the City, and have speakers both from the Government and from Merchant Banks and the Stock Exchange, etc. The object would be to get a better understanding of how the policies of the Government and the methods of the City institutions affect each other. ..... Members would not necessarily be members of the Labour Party. They could include Liberal voters, though I doubt if any Conservatives would wish to join. .... Will those who work in the City and who are interested in this idea, please comtact me 7" Having never ourselves made the mistake of assuming "that the City is inherently hostile to the ideas and ideals of the present Government", we can almost claim parentage of this venture, which we heartily conmend to all our Stock Exchange subscribers. There is no reason why the idea should not attract support from the widest business circles, and we feel that Mr. Grant is unduly pessimistic in suggesting that Conservatives might not feel completely at home in such company.