A New Minister
Page 23
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WHEN he relinquished the Ministry of Transport Mr. MarpIes might well have used that memorable phrase from show-business: " Follow that!" Certainly all the indications are that our new Minister, Mr.. Tom Fraser, will not try to emulate the ebullient reign of his predecessor. Does it matter if he turns Out to be a quiet administrator? Of course not; he will be judged on what he does—, not how he does it.
The road transport industry welcomes Mr. Fraser and his two Parliamentary Secretaries, Lord Lindgren and -Mr. S. T. Swingler. It is encouraging to find transport still given Cabinet ranking in Mr. Wilson's Government, and it is equally encouraging to find shipping being hived off (as happened a few years ago with civil aviation).
NOw it reallyis' a Ministry of Inland Transport and will, therefore, have , . more time to devote to that subject. This can only bring good results.
Every operator, quite Understandably, asks: "What are Labatti going to do? " The only answer The cothinercial Alotor can give at the moment is; "We don't know." Whether or not. a small majority Will deter Mr. Wilson from some of his more controversial legislation remains to be seen. Whether or not, indeed, transport figures high on his list of priorities remains to be seen too.
On most matters—such as smoke and maintenance checks, roadbuilding, plating, heavy goods vehicle driving licences, enforcement, and so on--the mixture should continue at least as strong. Pressure for safer construction and use would have mounted anyway. Most road transport matters are, of course, not political.
As for the rest . . . we'll tell you when we know.