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No expropriation in this Parliament

6th April 1979, Page 10
6th April 1979
Page 10
Page 10, 6th April 1979 — No expropriation in this Parliament
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

TRANSPORT Secretary William Rodgers, would like to see the National Freight Corporation given every facility to extend its operations to show that road haulage can be industrially efficient, with high standards of social behaviour and good industrial relations.

He stated this in the Commons last week when he said — not for the first time — that he probably had no plans to extend public ownership in the road haulage industry during this Session of Parliament.

The NFC had, he said, in many ways been an important pace-setter in an industry that was pretty rough at the edges.

Peter Fry (Tory, Wellingborough) pointed out that the NFC had the aid of taxpayers' money, which was not available to private industry, in what it had achieved.

He asked how Mr Rodgers reconciled his many previous denials about plans for further nationalisation with the current Labour campaign guide which specifically promised an extension of the public sector of road haulage. He was not aware that he had ever denied the possibility of more public ownership — he was far too careful to say that, retorted Mr Rodgers.

He had made plain in the House, time and again, that freight had to pay its way. This applied to the NFC which deserved the fullest support on both sides of the House.

loan Evans (Labour, Aberdare) urged the Minister to avoid the dogmatic approach of the Tory Party which had denationalised the road haulage industry at a time when road and rail were paying. He should move forward to an integrated road and rail service, with traffic on the railways that was best carried by rail and that on the roads best suited to the roads.

Mr Rodgers agreed absolutely. Mr Evans was right to say we had to look for proper co-ordination in all our freight services, and that we needed a mixed economy in road haulage.

In his view we needed a rather larger public sector too.

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