WESTM NS TER HAUL
Page 7
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IT JUST goes to show that you shouldn't believe everything you read. In newspapers at least. There it was, confidently forecast in a couple of journals — the Government had changed its mind, and the Transport Minister was going to announce that Vehicle Excise Duty would be scrapped and petrol put up to £1.50 a gallon.
True, it was said that this sudden accord with the Labour Government would be revealed in answer to written questions. But that was obviously a lapse by a writer whose transport knowledge was more profound than his command of Parliamentary procedure.
After all, the first question on the topic was number 32, and it was conceivable — just — that it would be reached during the hour devoted to transport topics.
And if it was not, then surely Norman Fowler would not be fool enough to bring down on his head the Parliamentary wrath which his predecessor, William Rodgers, aroused by announcing his plan to do away with VED by means of a written answer. He would surely seek permission to make a statement once questions were over.
Those MPs and "strangers" who take note of what the papers say settled down and waited.
And a long wait it proved to be. With such touchy and argument-provoking topics as the fuel shortage and the railways on the agenda, it became obvious that question 32 would not be reached.
Incidentally, it was worth noting that Brigg and Scunthorpe, represented until the election by TGWU-sponsored John Ellis, who played a leading part in transport discussions, now has a young Tory, Michael Brown, whose views on lorries are not likely to coincide with those of his vanquished opponent.
Well, with all this going on, transportminded Members got no further than question number 20 before Civil Service matters took over. And when it came to statements — they were concerned with the decision to let in more Vietnamese refugees and the Royal Commission on the National Health Service.
So the Press people were proved partly right. It was a written answer. Three words long. When did the Minister expect to announce his proposals on the future of VED? — "Later this year".