Rocking the Boat
Page 32
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
SOME of the large bus interests were anxious that, in the cause of political peace in transport, a compromise should be reached on the denationalization of road haulage. Despite the protests of the Road Haulage Association, their wishes have been gratified in the Transport (Disposal of Road Haulage Property) Bill. Hauliers have had to sacrifice their principles and now have to face a far greater measure of competition from the State than they expected when they beganto buy units from British Road Services.
They may, therefore, regard with bitterness the efforts of the Public Transport Association and other organizations to persuade the Minister of Transport to embark on the denationalization of road passenger transport. They are entitled to ask why, if the cessation of road haulage disposal is in the interests of political immunity, the new-won stability of the industry should be threatened by sectional action. They would not welcome the negation of the sacrifice that they have made.
The question is extremely delicate. The Trans port Act, 1953, gives the Minister power to divest the British Transport Commission of control of bus companies and he has not used it. Bus operators may well feel aggrieved that he has not done so, especially as the denationalization of passenger transport is technically far more simple than that of -road haulage.
If the course of disposal had continued to the full extent laid down by the 1953 Act, bus operators would have been in a strong position in making their demands. In the changed circumstances, they should consider carefully whether their aspirations are likely to cause new political disturbance and undo any good that compromise on road haulage may have achieved.
There is hope that the maintenance of the present balance between private and State enterprise in road passenger transport, in conjunction with the preservation of a strong B.R.S., will ensure the future immunity of the industry from threats of renationalization and even more oppressive measures than those which have been taken in the past.