In his speech at a National Book League luncheon on
Tuesday Mr. Herbert Morrison admitted that there had been criticism of the 1951 Exhibition project, and that it was a fair question whether the project should be proceeded with in the existing circumstances. It is not only a fair question, it is a necessary question. Government speakers are eloquent about the need for economy till some specific economy is suggested. Then they either go dumb or go hostile. As to the Exhibition, I find no enthusiasm for it in itself. Still, there may be a case for it if national economy is no object. If it is, then here is a field in which it can be exercised at once. The advantages of the Exhibition are all hypothetical ; the saving if the idea were given up could be expressed forthwith in hard figures. I believe such a decision would be thoroughly popular and would be taken by the country as some evidence that in the matter of economy the Government really does mean business.
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