Attlee Pays Off to the Left

Prime Minister Clement Attlee shuffled his cabinet last week. Aneurin Bevan, who had run the Ministry of Health for five years, became Minister of Labor, in charge of mobilization of manpower. He replaced bumbling George Isaacs, who was shifted to the Ministry of Pensions, with a $5,600 salary cut and loss of cabinet rank. Former Minister of Pensions Hilary Marquand, a little-known, dependable public servant and former economics professor, took over Bevan's Health Ministry. Housing, which had been under the Health Minister's jurisdiction, was shifted to Hugh Dalton, who became Minister of Local Government and Planning.

Attlee's game of musical chairs meant more power for Bevan and Dalton, both members of the Labor Party's anti-U.S. (but not pro-Red) left wing, which Right-Winger Attlee has consistently appeased. In recent months Bevan has stubbornly opposed British rearmament, has fought tooth & nail against more defense spending if it meant curtailing his social services. Attlee may hope that as manpower boss, a key defense post, Bevan would find it in his own interests to help Britain's defense program.

Public demands for other cabinet changes went unfulfilled. Old Battler Ernie Bevin had become too ill to carry on the burden of Britain's foreign affairs. And a barrage of criticism was hitting War Secretary John Strachey, who, as Minister of Food, had made a complete failure of the African groundnuts scheme, which was designed to get cooking fat for austerity Britain. Even the Labor government had to admit last week that the scheme had failed, at a dead loss to the British taxpayer of $109 million. There was no reason to believe that Strachey would be any better at getting guns than he had been at getting margarine.

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