THE SPECTATOR INQUIRY
INTO
THE STEEL INDUSTRY
ON November 21, 1958, the Spectator announced that it had appointed an independent Commission with the following terms of reference : 'To inquire into the advantages and disadvantages of the nationalisation of the steel industry.'
The Commission consisted of : Mr. D. Norman Chester, CBE, Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford (Chairman).
Mr. Percy Lamb, QC, at that time Recorder of Rochester.* Mr. H. M.' D. Parker, CB, CBE, formerly Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, and later an Under-Secretary in the Ministry of Labour.
Mr. H. Duncan Crow was Secretary to the Commission.
The Commission was assisted by two assessors, namely : Mr. Richard Evely, an economist and Labour parliamentary candi- date at the last two General Elections.
Mr, T. E. Utley, a Right-wing political commentator who has made a special study of the relationship between government and industry.
Both took an active part in the preparation of the report.
There was already available to the Commission a wealth of pub- lished material—books, reports, pamphlets, articles, etc. The Commission also had the advantage of discussing the problem with a number of Conservative, Labour and Liberal Members of Parliament; representatives of the British Iron and Steel Federation and others. The Fabian Society submitted a specially prepared memorandum. The Iron and Steel Board and the Iron and Steel Holding and Realisation Agency did not feel able to give evidence to the Commission, but, of course, their published reports were available.
The Report is arranged as follows : I. The Organisation of the Industry.
11. The Case For Nationalisation of the Industry.
III. The Case Against Nationalisation of the Industry.
IV. Comments and Conclusions.
* The work of the Commission had been largely completed when Mr. Percy Lamb had to resign upon his appointment as Official Referee to the Supreme Court of Judicature.
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