Rough Passage for Transport Bill
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Labour Mobilizes: P.S.V. Operators and Hauliers Vexed : Bitterness Over Levy
• LABOUR reaction to the publication of the Transport Rill was immediate. Plans were laid for an intensive campaign of opposition and Mr. J. II. Figgins, secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, caused a disturbance in trade-union circles by a veiled threat of strike action.
The Government's surprise decision to defer the second reading of the Bill until the next session will allow the Opposition more time in which to consolidate its offensive. Parliament will adjourn for the summer recess at the end of this month or early in August, writes our -Parliamentary correspondent.
The Opposition is to decide whether to announce that, if it returns to power, it will or will not honour the clause in the Transport Bill awarding special five-year A licences to buyers of transport units.
Critics of the Bill are, however, not confined to Socialist circles. The Road Haulage Association remains obdurately silent, but the Passenger Vehicle Operators' Association and the Public Transport Association have both expressed their disapproval of the permissive nature of the clause dealing with the denationalization of road passenger transport.
They both think that in the interests of the public and the industry, control a the powerful bloc of State-owned bus companies should be passed back to free enterprise as quickly as reasonably practicable. They do not believe that the permissive power given to the Minister of Transport to requirethe British Transport Commission to relinquish its majority shareholdings would ensure that this was done. The P.V,O.A. will continue to press this point.
Levy Attacked
The levy was fiercely attacked by Lord Sandhurst, chairman of the British Road Federation, who said that public reaction to it was not only "cold and critical, but even hostile." For the Government merely to repeat that the levy was an essential part of its general transport proposals was no defence of an indefensible proposition.
Mr. F. D. Fitz-Gerald, national secretary of the Traders Road Transport Association, told "The Commercial Motor" on Tuesday that an examination of the clauses relating to the levy served only to reinforce the views expressed when this proposal was announced in the White Paper. "The proposed levy remains completely unacceptable in principle, and the T.R.T.A. has no option but to continue to take every possible step to persuade the Government not to proceed with this part of its proposals," he added.
Mr. Harry Crookshank, Lord Privy Seal, sought last Saturday to justify the levy on the ground that it provided an arrangement whereby road transport could find its proper place in the national transport system without ruining the railways.
The ad hoc committee of the R.H.A. which has been meeting the Minister met last Friday, but no statement was issued. It is clear, however, that the Association is opposed. to the levy. It B2
is also dissatisfied with the indefinite nature of the factors on which the repeal of the 25-mile limit on existing hauliers depends. This restriction cannot, it is thought, be lifted before January 1, 1954, and it may continue much longer. Some speedier relief than this is required.
The Association, it is believed, also wishes to be consulted on the drafting of forms of tender for transport units.
P.S.V. LICENSING REVIEW I T has been decided to appoint a com mittee to review the working of the passenger transport licensing system. The Minister of Transport, who gave this information last week, hopes shortly to be able to announce the composition and terms of reference of the committee.
There is anxiety that, unless care • is exercised, transport units may fall into the hands of speculators, instead of transport men.
• There is also a fear that, unless ex-hauliers receive some firm assurance of the date when transport units will start to become available, they will be unable to unlock in time capital invested elsewhere and may have to have recourse to finance houses.
The area organizations are being asked to examine the Bill carefully and give their opinions.
Mr. E. J. Shaw, chairman of the South Yorkshire Area of the R.H.A., said that hauliers in Sheffield and District were not enthusiastic about the provisions for the sale of the Road Haulage .Executive's assets. "Only about 50 per cent, of our members wilt want to buy them back, and they will not want 50 per cent, of the vehicles they once owned," he declared. "A firm which used to have 20 vehicles might be interested in five."
At a Birmingham meeting, convened last Friday by the Road Passenger and Transport Association, hauliers expressed their dissatisfaction with the continuing 25-mile limit on existing hauliers.
The president of the Association, Mr. Gerald Nabarro, M.P., said he shared the operator's dislike of this point, but he did not think that there was much chance of the Bill being altered. Mr.
Nabarro said that many. other Conservative Members had been disappointed about the terms for lifting the 25-mile limit. When the Bill was published a large number of them :waitedprivately on the Minister of Transport and Lord Leathers(Minister for Co-ordination of Transport, Fuel and Power) to ask for the limit to be abolished immediately. "There was a big row about it behind the scenes, and many Members were angered about it, just as you operators were," he said.
"A Small Price"
Operators should regard the delay in lifting the limit on the radius of operation and the compensatory levy on their vehicles proposed in the Bill, as a" small price to pay" for the return of the road haulage industry to private enterprise, Mr. Nabarro said.
The national council of the National Conference of Road Transport Clearing Houses has considered the Bill at a special meeting. Mr. Boyd Bowman, secretary, said on Tuesday that the Conference was disappointed _that the Government had not proposed any scheme whereby an advantage could be . offered to the acquired undertakings returning to the industry, without possible detriment to B.T.C. finances.
"The Conference hopes that the postponement of the second reading until the autumn will," he said, "enable the Minister to make many improvements after further consultations with the industry. Among other points which deserve attention is pro, vision •to re-grant original permits to those holding them in 1950, in order that a limited number of vehicles may be brought back early into free service, so that the change-over can be effected with the least disturbance to the trade of the country."
National Campaign
Immediatelythe Bill was published, representatives of the Parliamentary Labour Party, the Party's National Executive, the T.U.C. General Council and the trade unions concerned met at . the House of Commons under the chairmanship of Mr. Arthur Deakin. They decided to institute a national campaign to fight the Bill by every constitutional means. Public meetings• will be held, literature will be circulated and uncompromising resistance will be 'exerted in Parliament.
Mr. G. R. Strauss, who was Minister of Supply in the Socialist Government, said at Chichester, last Saturday, that the Bill will be fought "on every line, at every stage, with all the rights we possess." • At the annual conference of the National Union of Railwaymen at Scarborough, Mr. J. B. Eiggins, secretary, went even farther. "We will, fight polically on this issue, but if necessary we. will fight industrially," he declared. A resolution condemning the Bill was passed unanimously.
The Manchester District Councilof the N.U.M. called. last Saturday.for mass demonstrations against the denationalization of road transport.