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democracy.

I have indicated that the Government are anxious to meet the reasonable desire of all Parties in Scotland for a closer oversight of Scottish affairs. In pursuance of that policy, as set out in Command 7308, we have arranged for the Scottish Estimates to be dobated in the Scottish Grand Committee, and for the second reading of certain Bills to be discussed there;

and through the setting up of the Scottish Economic Conference representatives of all the main bodies concerned with the economic life of Scotland have been brought together under my chairmanship.

So far as they have gone, these arrangements are accepted as having worked well and fulfilled a nécd,

5.

As regards the demand for an enquiry into the financial and economic position, I have so far resisted it on the ground that what factual information there is reasonably available at present is already published; that the investigation of the financial relations between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain would involve a serious diversion of effort and would produce results necessarily based, to some extent, on conjecture; and that any further factual information about industry and commerce north and south of the Border must await the results of the Census of Production and the Census of Distribution. In the meantime I have undertaken to publish annually and have done so for each of the past three years a White Paper about Scotland's economic position in which available statistics are set out; and we have also arranged to publish in the near future a handbook outlining the present administrative arrangements for the conduct of Government business in Scotland.

They also

6*

The position of the other political parties is that the Liberals are committed to Home Rule for Scotland and that the Conservatives are not. The Conservatives' position has just been explained in a document, obviously for use at the General Election. They reject the idea of a separate Scottish Parliament at present, but promise to appoint a Royal Commission to review the whole position as between Scotland and England in the light of modern developments, and to make recommendations. What the recommendations are to be about is not clear; but the main campaign has been directed against the "London" control of the nationalised industries and of former local authority undertakings The Conservatives mean- while propose a second Scottish Minister of Cabinet rank who would be mainly resident in Scotland und would act as the Secretary of State's Deputy over the whole field. want a third Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland probably in the Lords. As regards the nationalised industries the establishment of which on a Great Britain basis has been widely criticised in Scotland - they propose an all-Scottish Electricity Board answerable to the Secretary of State; a Gas Commission also answerable to the Secretary of State, which would supervise and co-ordinate the work of the various gas undertakings over which local authorities would be allowed to resume responsibility if they wanted to; a Scottish Railways Board somehow integrated with the British Transport Commission; and an independent Scottish Coal Board equal in status to the English Board. In the case of civil aviation they contemplate some restoration of private enterprise and promise an enquiry into the position including the question of the development of Prestwick as an international airport. Prestwick has all along been made a symbol of nationalist