Maximum-weights decision: an MP protests
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continued from page 22 ever-growing number of British "minilorries" instead of three-quarters that number of really modern trunkers. By all means, if it is essential in the interests of preserving the amenity and olde-worlde beauty of our priceless villages and ancient cities, deny access to or through these spots in the same way as they do in Germany, by appropriate sign-posting. This is not an insuperable problem if there is a will to resolve it. Britain has prided herself for so long on having led the world in many spheres. We can still do so, and Government policies must be directed to enable British industry to be outwardlooking, to compete on equal terms with other nations. And the latest weight restriction is but another example of the strait-jacket which has handicapped the British automotive industry for so long.
Transport operators, builders of heavy commercial vehicles, manufacturers of engines and chassis, . as well as those interested in the construction of better and bigger roads, should rally to make their voice more effectively heard in Parliament. The conservationists have done a good job; the industry must do a better one. There is far too much at stake, not just the preservation of Britain but the very economic existence of it. In this campaign the industry's trade associations have a very special role to play.