Mr. Wheatley went into the details of the cost of
a £500 house, and emphasized his intention of punishing profiteer- ing in the cost of materials. He added that the finance of the scheme will be reviewed every three years. " If prices soar the scheme will cease automatically." The local authorities had asked that the size of the houses should be the same as was specified in Mr. Neville Cham- berlain's Act of 1923, and he had " yielded " to their representations. Thus Labour accepts the " boxes " which it denounced last year. Mr. Wheatley professes to have obtained a satisfactory promise from the building trade, but we cannot see that there is any promise to which the trade can possibly be held. The trade—both employers and employed—has been given security for a long time to come, and in return it makes very little contribution indeed to the public good. The addition to their man- power which the Trade Unions will allow is derisory. Yet the housing shortage is a national scandal and constitutes a crisis. We do not shrink from expenditure, but we do shrink from useless expenditure. The Government scheme will not do.
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