Sore about pickets
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No doubt about which subject drew most response from RHA members at the annual dinner last week — not, as you might expect, John Wells' recommendation to go for higher rates (which drew some sceptical noises as well as moderate applause) -but his remark about lorry picketing. When he said that the proposal to give a picket with an armband — "official, unofficial or homemade, trade unionist, student, or agitator" the right to stop vehicles was a fundamental invasion of the freedom of the individual to go about his lawful business, there was what the papers used to describe as thunderous applause. I trust Mr Mulley took this reaction back to Mr Michael Foot, who has lately been busy justifying his intentions on picketing and closed shops. Fortunately the picketing proposals are not included in the new Bill, but they are hovering around.