1N PRINCIPLE
Mr. Duncan Sandys' equivocal announcement that the Government has 'decided in principle to adopt the policy recommended by the Beaver Committee on air pollution' is welcome so far as it goes, which is not very far. Smokeless zones, which provide the only real answer to smog. are only possible insofar as stocks of appropriate fuel are available, and on this point the Minister of Housing had nothing to say, though there have already been complaints from householders that they cannot obtain supplies from their coal merchants. Again, though British Railways (who are responsible for a seventh of all the smoke in built-up areas) have proclaimed their intention of making amends, the British Electricity Authority has so far made no satisfactory plans for dealing with the sulphurous fumes from their power stations which are daily rotting the stonework of houses—to say nothing of the lungs of their inhabitants. Is Mr. Sandys going to put pressure on the Minister of Fuel and Power to put pressure on the BEA and the National Coal Board (such are the clumsy processes of government) or not? And, if not, are the blessed words in principle to serve their habitual use as an escape-hatch for ministers in search of a policy? The threat of a private mem- ber's bill carrying out the recommendations of the Beaver Com- mittee apparently put the dogs on Mr. Sandys. Let us hope that they make him run far and fast.
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