Whistling for a Wind
Page 37
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Political Commentary By JAN US
RAISED eyebrows must have greeted the request by the chairman, at the annual luncheon of the Road Haulage Association, that the Minister of Transport should repeal the Transport Act. Mr. Fowler's appeal can have been only a rhetorical flourish. He must have known that a fundamentalist such as Mr. Barnes would be no more likely to abandon his beloved Act than Mrs. Micawber to leave her husband.
Mr. Fowler may have been whistling for a wind. The political situation has changed during the past few weeks. As the international outlook grows more gloomy, and the Government's narrow majority in the House of Commons holds firm against assault, so the prospect of an early general election becomes more remote. Operators have no choice, for the time being, but to make friends with what many of them regard as the mammon of unrighteousness. They are laying less emphasis on ultimate deliverance by a Conservative Government, and more on the possibility of some concession from the Socialists.
Legislation on the lines suggested by Mr. Fowler is, of course, unlikely. Nor is there much chance at the moment that the Conservatives will put forward a motion to ease the restrictions on the free-enterprise operator. The Transport Act, substantially the same as it is to-day, may remain in force for months, or even years. No time must be lost in seeking a solution to problems arising from the present state of affairs.
The Road Haulage Executive, in a favourable position, is waging psychological warfare with some success against the divided hauliers. Last week I drew attention to the sowing of enmity between wholly shortdistance operators and those whose wider activities have been ended by the refusal or contraction of permits. If this attempt fails to set the hauliers at loggerheads, other means are available. The Commission has many operators entirely or mainly 'degendent upon it for traffic. Fear of losing the traffic is enough to paralyse the victims, who thus become a deadweight on the activities of their more independent colleagues.
Behind Closed Doors A war of nerves by the R.H.E. is facilitated by lack of unity among hauliers. They are easily made to feel isolated and suspicious. Many of the discussions and negotiations vital to their interests go on, or appear to go on, behind closed doors. They can never rid their minds of the possibility of a fifth column in their midst.
There is some excuse for their fears, if one recalls how the passage of the Act was followed almost immediately by the defection of so many leaders who up to the very end were still emulating the defiance of Prometheus chained to the rock. Whatever good reasons there may have been for the abrupt conversion, the fact remains that the delicate episode was incredibly badly handled. Most people unaware of the exact circumstances—and few people even now know the whole story—would find difficulty in resisting the conclusion that the volunteers were: " such as for their bellies' sake Creep, and intrude, and climb into the fold."
When hauliers meet together, they still talk in a bitter, just-for-a-handful-of-silver-he-left-us strain of the villains who "sold the pass." They wait uneasily for the next one to go. In such an atmosphere, it is easy for the R.H.E., if it so desires, to start a rumour that such-and-such a haulier has asked to be acquired. The victim's denials merely make him more suspect. Other operators, knowing him to be a shrewd man of business, are tempted to follow his supposed example. Finding them flirting with the enemy, he suddenly decides to rush in first, thus confirming the rumour, perjuring himself, and needlessly damaging still further the fabric of free-enterprise transport.
Time is vital to the British Transport Commission and the haulier. If free enterprise can be eliminated, or reduced to a mere rump, before the next election, there will probably be no question of denationalization, whatever party is returned. More direct methods by the R.H.E., such as the wholesale refusal of permits, might have the desired effect, but would invite criticism from the Press, from the Opposition in Parliament, and from the more squeamish among Labour M.P.s. A cold war, with the aim of tricking hauliers into offering their businesses, is not open to the same objection. It can be hotted up a little by saturation bombing by Press advertisements directed mainly into the short-distance field.
Traders Unconvinced In spite of its efforts, the R.H.E. has made little progress in convincing trade and industry of the merits of its service. Nine out of 10 traders still prefer free enterprise. The number of C-licensed vehicles continues to rise at the rate of over 6,000 each Month. These facts give the R.H.E. a further inducement to squeeze out the independent operators. On the assumption that a change of Government may be delayed for some time, hauliers should revise and extend their plans for the next year or two. Reassurances should be given to operators exposed to the psychological warfare of the R.H.E. Something ought to be done to retain the interest and loyalty of ex-hauliers, particularly those who have lost their businesses through no fault of their own.
The support of trade and industry should be kept and confirmed. It should not be forgotten that the indiscriminate drift to the C-licence may harm independent operators even more than the R.H.E. A workable alternative to the nationalized set-up must be found, mainly through grouping and inter-working.
At the same time, there is no need to relax efforts to alter or ameliorate some of the provisions of the Transport Act. Liaison may have been disappointing in some ways, but it has kept the door open for the voicing of grievances, and the easing of blatant hardship. Pressure may with advantage be exerted on the weaker points of the Act, which certainly include the rigid 25-mile limit, and the insecurity of tenure of permits.
If the hauliers be temporarily becalmed because of the political stalemate, they should man the oars in as full strength as possible, instead of whistling for a wind. The Minister is unlikely to scrap his brain-child in response to an appeal. His most likely response is a counter-appeal to hauliers to co-operate with him in making the Act work. He has at least the encouragement of knowing that this line of approach was not unsuccessful two years. ago.