The tin-British Transport Commission
Page 28
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
WHY was the British Transport Commission so determined to take over Miers Transport, Ltd., Wolverhampton, although a certificate supplied by a chartered accountant and confirmation by the Milk Marketing Board showed that most of the company's business. was concerned either with bulk milk traffic in tankers or collections from farms within 25 miles?
Was it because Mr. R. P. Miers is known to be influential in his own sphere and his example in selling out to the Commission might be followed by other milk hauliers? The B.T.C. is unlikely to answer that question, but it suggests a strong motive for the Commission's tenacity in trying for four months to intimidate Mr. Miers. The history of the case, outlined in our issue of September 2, is a record of a shameful waste of public money and of an unethical attempt to pry into the affairs of an independent operator.
The B.T.C. disregarded a certificate supplied by a chartered accountant and endeavoured to persuade the company to surrender its audited accounts. As the period in which the Commission was interested was different from that for which the audited accounts had been made up, they would have afforded no assistance, and the company was thoroughly justified in refusing to show them. The information. required could have been obtained from the concern's books and invoices, but the Commission seems to have been reluctant to go to this trouble, presumably hoping that Mr. Miers himself would bear the expense involved.
It is well known that for many years the railways have often lodged objections to applications for licences solely to obtain information about their road competitors' activities. More recently. similar measures have, it is understood, been adopted by the Road Haulage Executive. It is possible that the B.T.C.'s onslaught on Miers Transport, Ltd.. was an extension of a policy of espionage and that the Commission never entertained serious hopes of taking over the business. If so, the organization's title should immediately become the Un-British Transport Commission.