MR. WILSON SPILLS THE (TRANSPORT) BEANS
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HE clearest pre-election statement of Socialist aims in the transport held which The Commercial Motor has seen was contained in a letter from Mr. Harold Vilson to Mr. W. F. Cope, managing director of Alfreton Transport Ltd., Derbyshire. Ir. Wilson wrote:— " Thank you for your letter on road aulage policy. I was glad to hear of le good employment conditions your rm provides. These will not be endanered by any policy of the Labour iovernment. Our policy will have three ims:—
" (1) The co-ordination of long-distance nods transport, road and rail connecons with ports, airports, etc. in order at the best use is made of transport zsources and the best services provided )r British industry and consumers.
"(2) The provision of good employtent conditions in the road haulage idustry.
"(3) The co-ordination of policies for :gional development, town planning and .ansport.
" We are sure this can he achieved only
with a large public sector in the road haulage industry. The efficacy of a nationalized system of trunk haulage routes has been proved adequately by the failure of a Tory government hostile to public ownership to break up the British Road Services route network. so that B.R.S. still run the biggest single fleet in the country 10 years after denationalization.
"We feel, however, that the B.R.S. fleets could with advantage be expanded further. The existence of this large public sector means that the situation is different from the immediate post-war years when legislation was needed, and full-scale nationalization, in order to set up this national network. British Road Services can now be left to expand wherever they can usefully do so through 'adding to fleets and buying up suitable premises and existing fleets in private hands. A considerable private sector is expected to continue in road haulage—as indeed remained under the terms of the Nationalization Act of 1947, which did not affect specialist fleets and fleets mainly 'engaged on short hauls."
Feeling that this reply still left the door open for "concealed nationalization " Mr. Cope immediately wrote again to Mr. Wilson, asking for specific answers to these questions: does this mean that B.R.S. would have to apply for carriers' licences to carry the traffic they would acquire under "expansion", or would they be given carte blanche to carry as and where they wished? Would acquisition of private haulage fleets be compulsorily carried out, or by consent? And would long-distance hauliers who were not taken over be allowed to continue to run long-distance traffic without restrictions? The only answer Mr. Cope received was an acknowledgement.