Yo ho ho!
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Nicholas Bennett, Leader of the Opposition in the London Borough of Lewisham, is campaigning for the return of free enterprise to London bus operation. He claims that, especially between 1927 and '1933, what were generally called "pirates" ran more modern and more comfortable buses than the London General Omnibus Co, made "handsome" profits and paid their crews higher wages than those paid by the London Passenger Transport Board after 1933.
The independent buses — mostly Leylands and Straker Squires, as I remember them — certainly provided a more exciting ride than the LGOC vehicles but the panache with which they were driven would hardly be acceptable nowadays. I rode on them whenever possible, mostly, I think, for their novelty and speed, but they commanded public affection and support partially because they were run by underdogs.
Whether they would have the same success and for the same reasons today, is, I suggest, uncertain. BILL GI LLIHAN, marketing director of MAN-VW Truck and Bus Ltd, says commercial vehicle advertising is a "graveyard." Always sensitive to the industry's needs, CM is planning a special marble advertisement supplement and is engagging a team of talented tombstone engravers.