Nationalisation under Review
The working of nationalised industries is to be subject to periodical review. Almost casually, and with a noticeable lack of precision as to detail, Mr. Morrison made this announce- ment of policy to the House of Commons last week. The enquiries are to be made by " good citizens" (whichis com- forting) and will take place every seven years (which is rather disturbing). For it is not by any means clear what these good citizens' terms of reference will be. The analogy of the B.B.C. enquiries was mentioned, but there are considerable differences in the nature of a ,body which is set up by Royal Charter and one which has received statutory embodiment. The very existence of the B.B.C., or at least its existence in its present form, is the essential matter for periodical review by an outside commission ; but it is a reasonably safe guess that the present Government has no intention of allowing so much scope to the seven-yearly reviewers of coal, transport, and the other monopolies of their recent creation. There is, of course, no reason why competent bodies should not be encouraged to investigate the structure as well as the working of nationalised industries, and it is hard to imagine any useful review which would not make recommendations involving the need for legislative action. .There is a real danger that the promise of these enquiries will have the immediate effect of obstructing necessary reforms within the industries concerned. Seven years is a long time to wait, particularly for the first review, but the knowledge that one is eventually to take_place can always be made the excuse for inaction by a lazy Minister or a timid executive. It is important that, now the principle of a periodic enquiry has been established, Parliament (to which the enquiries will be responsible) should press for it to be accepted that the commissions meet at shorter intervals than seven years (at any rate in the first, instances) and that their terms of reference should in every case be the widest possible.
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