I . ..an opportunity which may
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never be repeated
SURELY the ideal situation may now be developing for at long last taking the transport problem out of party politics, even if not out of politics altogether. A Government with a tiny majority may not be best fitted to deal with some of the nation's affairs, but the circumstances could favour honourable agreement on a dispute from which the party now in power has gained little credit.
The remaining factor needed is a report from the Geddes Committee which is moderate and sensible and which can with no great difficulty be converted into legislation. In theory there is nothing to stop the Committee from satisfying these reasonable requirements. The members may have begun with little knowledge of road transport, but this could be an advantage as they would also have been free from preconceptions. They owe no allegiance and they have had the benefit of a flood of advice from every possible quarter.
At least their aims are clear. They are seeking to preserve and preferably increase the efficiency of the road transport industry; to look after the interests and improve the prospects of those people engaged in the industry; to promote road safety insofar as this comes within the scope of their terms of reference; and to safeguard an appropriate future for the railways. It is not so easy to suggest how these aims should be put into effect. Nevertheless, those people who have been in touch with the Geddes Committee are of the opinion that the members are tackling their task in the proper way or at any rate are asking the right questions.
Perhaps no more than six months will pass before the Committee's report is sent to the Minister of Transport and in due course published. If the Conservatives had been in power they would have felt obliged to arrange an early parliamentary debate, in the course of which the Minister would have outlined the forthcoming legislation. This would have followed as soon as possible and become law without much alteration.
Hypothetical Situation In this hypothetical situation the Labour opposition would have approved only those parts of the report which chimed in with their own ideas of an integrated transport system under public ownership. More or less on principle they would have opposed the measure put before them and would have voted against it at every stage. As in the past they would have served notice of their intention to introduce contradicting legislation as soon as they had the opportunity.
In other words the Geddes report would in no way have checked the party political struggle for transport. The same would have been true if the Labour Government had had a substantial majority. Their traditional congratulations to the Committee would not have prevented them from bringing in a Bill bearing little or no relation to the report. If the Bill contained the anticipated clauses restricting or expropriating the independent operator, the Conservative and Liberal opposition would have presSed their own amendments with vigour, confident that on this issue B18 at least they would have the great majority of the country behind them. The Act, when finally and inevitably passed, would still not represent a permanent settlement.
What could happen with things as they are now? Unruffled by changes of government the Geddes Committee is pressing on towards its final report. The Labour Party has admitted that it is waiting for this document before formulating its own plans. Whether it realises it or not, this much publicized declaration has given considerable prestige to the Committee. Its recommendations, whatever they may be, cannot be shrugged off by the Government. The Conservatives will not be loth to press the point, particularly as they can claim the credit for appointing the Committee.
If the report says nothing about extending public ownership, compulsory integration, distance limits and restrictions on the C-licence holder, and if the Government insists on introducing these items into its Bill to deal with transport, it will find itself fighting an unpopular battle in a Parliament where its majority could hardly be more tenuous. The Government cannot afford to shelve the issue until another general election, even if this is not long delayed. In contrast with the eagerness of Mr. Ernest Marples to get to grips with the transport problem, such procrastination would show only too clearly that the Labour Party lacks the courage of its own convictions.
Opportunity to Compromise Compelled to fight on unfavourable ground with an ever-present fear that in one division or another it will be found wanting, the Labour Party has the opportunity to propose a compromise. There are bound to be many things in the Geddes report which commend themselves to everyone. The Labour Party manifesto has also promised vigorous action in the interests of, road safety "to stop cut-throat haulage firms from flouting regulations covering vehicle maintenance, loads and driving hours ". The opposition is hardly likely to object to this.
To a large extent the Government could spike the formidable guns of the opposition by putting forward deliberately moderate legislation with which it would be difficult for a reasonable man to quarrel. The Conservatives would see no advantage in a fierce battle against provisions which might very well follow closely proposals from a Committee which they themselves set up. If the process went far enough, the ensuing Act might almost become an all-party measure.
To observers across the Channel and across the Atlantic it must often seem odd that transport, which should be too important a matter to leave to the politicians, should nevertheless remain for such a long time a source of party acrimony in Britain. There ought to be agreement on basic principles. The combination of the Geddes report (always assuming it is a good report) and the present delicate balance of power provides an opportunity which may never be repeated for reaching that agreement.
What a pity there is not the slightest chance that the opportunity will be taken!