fory government will ;ell shores in NFC
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ONSERVATTVE Government will be aiming to sell shares in National Freight Corporation — but it will not seek to -off NFC subsidiary companies to the private sector.
ory transport group kesman Norman Fowler [ CM at the weekend that Conservatives will be King to set up some kind of rngement along the lines of partnership of State and rate enterprise that runs BP oil giant.
To do this would be to put NFC outside the scope of Ternment interference," • Mr Fowler, "and it would Ln that the NFC would not treated as a nationalised istry with the taxpayer :ing up the losses.
This kind of arrangement rld be for the general efit and health of the istry as a whole," said Mr Tler, "it would put the NFC ) the realms of fair [petition and not put the )ayer in to foot the bills." :r Fowler added that ough this is the kind of ngement that former NFC .rman Sir Dan Pettit has Dcated in the past the Tory Lngement would take his gestion even further.
3ir Dan didn't go far enough, by selling shares in the NFC it would give the NFC a degree of stability that has been lacking up till now – and would be a real advantage in putting the corporation outside the scope of Whitehall," he said.
"This would be in complete contrast with the Labour policy of extending public ownership of road haulage," said Mr Fowler.
On tachographs Mr Fowler said that Conservative policy would be to get as generous a phasing-in programme as possible. "This could be three, four or even five years, I would like to see a maximum possible timescale for the introduction."
And Mr Fowler paid tribute to the setting up of an independent inquiry into the future of heavier vehicle weights. "This is the sensible way forward, it is not a party matter and Parliament will have to be convinced. We shall also be making sure that the inquiry is independent," said Mr Fowler. He said that the Foster Committee Report on Operators' Licensing had made the important point that licensing should not be more restrictive and he foresaw a major new transport Bill which would take into account the views of the Road Haulage Association and the Freight Transport Association and that Bill could include heavier vehicles and track cost rules.
Mr Fowler promised that a Tory Government would try to obtain as many permits for hauliers running abroad as possible and he paid tribute to the success of British operators in opening up routes in Europe and overseas.
"I am very conscious that there will be a lot of hard negotiation in Europe before this can be achieved," added Mr Fowler.
A review of EEC hours and distance regulations would also be on the Conservative agenda. "We believe that Britain should stand up for British interests, we should be constructive and help to iron problems out," said Mr Fowler.
He also wants to give priority to developing routes of economic importance to the ports, in particular the London Dover route which he described as "ludicrous" plus M25. Conservatives will also be looking to make progress on relief roads and by-passes.