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Sacred elephant

19th January 1968
Page 25
Page 25, 19th January 1968 — Sacred elephant
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Snow we know that, despite the Prime Minister's protestations at devaluation time, there is a sacred cow too valued to be sacrificed in the economic knifewielding. It is not defence, or housing, or welfare services, or education, or home defence, which in total are to lose hundreds of millions of pounds of expected national expenditure. It is not even roads, which suffer from a 1 22m cut in spending over the next two years— a blow which will not only hit local maintenance and small schemes but will make a nonsense of the recently confirmed target of 1,000 miles of motorways by the early 1970s.

No, it is the measure which the Minister of Transport recently dubbed "practical Socialism"—namely the Transport Bill and all its concomitant expenses, such as the nationalization of the BET bus interests. The cost of the Bill has been estimated at around £2,000m in total; the BET purchase itself will be far above the £35m generally quoted, since this is the figure for BET's own Ordinary shareholding; and the total cost of this single transaction may be well above the £.50m mark. Yet the Bill suffers only the minutest attention—worthy of the term "pinprick" rather than "cut".

If ever there was a case of getting the priorities wrong it is surely this. To sacrifice roadbuilding, to prolong uncertainty in transport affairs and discourage investment, to promote legislation whose outcome may well damage the national economy through its distorting and restricting effect on transport is not worthy of the term "practical Socialism"; it is irresponsible dogmatism.

As if to flaunt their defiance on this issue. the Government chose the THC borrowing powers Bill to follow the statement on economic cuts in the Commons.

All in all, an affair which will not increase the transport industry's faith in its rulers. We remain convinced that unless liberalizing amendments are accepted, the sacred cow will in practice be transmuted into a great white elephant.

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