Who runs this country?
Page 31
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TT is bad enough that the intransigence of the National Union of Railwaymen should hold up full development of Freightliners. It is even worse that companies with a substantial State shareholding (as was the situation with Tartan Arrow) should have their investment policy dictated by the antics of a bunch of diehard dogmatists concerned more with self-protection and outdated creeds than with future developments of their members' interests. But it is utterly unacceptable that this union should even hint that they will interfere with the operation of TIR traffic within the United Kingdom whenever that traffic is carried by private haulage.
Yet this egregious effort to force their blinkered views even on hauliers from other European countries was made on Friday when local NUR leaders threatened to strike unless British Railways' new Continental freight clearance depot (due to open in June) in East London is barred to private operators.
The Government talks of new attempts to join the Common Market; it is a signatory to the various conventions and agreements with other countries—some its own partners in the European Free Trade Association. Yet this country is the only one where TIR stops at the ports and inland facilities do not exist. There is a crying need for inland clearance depots in this country, which is hopelessly out of step with Europe in this matter.
Already the UK is under considerable fire from Europe because of this shortage, and the subject is the cause of acrimony at the talks on bilateral transport agreements. It is possible that the Dutch government will try to move a vote of censure on this country within the inland transport committee of the Economic Commission for Europe. They take the reasonable view that, as their partners in this committee's work, we should provide facilities for their operators which are the equal of those our operators enjoy when abroad. They complain that HM Customs and Excise are too concerned with collecting the maximum possible revenue and too little concerned with anything else to do with visiting operators under TIR carnets: although other countries are reducing (sometimes halving) the maximum liability of 200,000 Swiss francs, we insist on retaining it.
Are we now going to tell our European partners (and the Common Market we are trying to join) that the NUR say they cannot bring TIR traffic into clearance depots if they are privately owned? Ye Gods!