Bird's eye view
Page 44
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*power was peaceful!
"I am now a fully paid-up member of what is perhaps the most oppressed minority left in the world, the union of Ministers of Transport". So said Richard Marsh when he introduced himself to TRTA members at the Hilton on Monday. He was contrasting his new life at St. Christopher House with his quiet days as Minister of Power and he commented that his friends now solicitously offered him tomato juice to drink at cocktail parties, and newspaper photographers peered inside his car to see whether he was duly belted up.
His relaxed charm certainly went down well—and so did his outrageous remarks about his predecessor. For example, he referred to Barbara as "the only woman who can impart a seductive ring to the word containerization". And he added, for good measure: "No one has suffered more at the hands of the previous Minister of Transport than I have". After all, Mr. Marsh is a motorist.
He is certainly an engaging fellow, with a casual air which could well be deceptive. He delivered a long speech apparently off the cuff, but as soon as he had finished the Press was given a complete duplicated copy of it which must have been prepared well in advance. This indicates either a phenomenal memory or a flair for delivery. Personally I plump for the "memory" theory; there was not the slightest doubt about the competent way in which he had done his homework on the Bill, and he referred to his advisers hardly at all during a concentrated question-andanswer session lasting more than an hour.
What a pity his talents are employed on a piece of legislation which is so misguided in some of its intentions.
* Talking of snags ...
"More snags than expected" is the reason given for the postponement of compulsory testing of goods vehicles to October 1 in England and Wales and December 1 in Scotland instead of July 1.
This item of news last week refreshed memories of similar snags and postponements which arose in—for older readers— those nostalgic pre-war days. It can now be
told, to use the jargon of a national emergency, that directors' visits to bus depots of operating companies renowned for their keen efficiency were not all they were cracked up to be.
For weeks before the appointed day so many men had mop and brush in hand that it was remarkable passenger services continued to operate. Where stocks in the maintenance stores could not be reconciled with the books there was invariably a providential failure of the lighting system when it mattered most.
To ensure that only spick and span buses were to be seen on service by directors en route to the depot, the-not-so-good were withdrawn from service. But the problem then arose as to what to do with this "second division.". In one county, at least, renowned for a surfeit of disused limestone quarries, they became overnight exclusive bus parks with the depot foreman confident that if there were diversions from the directors' itinerary it would be to the golf course rather than a disused quarry.
*Creditable characteristic
The traffic courts, it would seem, are having a rather lean time of it at the moment. Applications for licences are becoming less as intending hauliers learn more about the implications of the Transport Bill. This in itself would not, presumably, upset the Licensing Authorities and their staffs, but it is becoming all too common for hauliers to make their applications and not to appear at the ensuing public inquiries. The time and effort of both objectors and those officiating at the inquiries is then wasted.
When this very thing happened in the Metropolitan traffic area recently, advocate Richard Yorke suggested that if the Geddes Report recommendation were adopted that a "deposit" of £10 be placed with the Licensing Authority on the submission of every application (to be used for costs in the event of non-appearance) applicants might be considerate enough to inform the LA and the objectors when they decided not to pursue an application.
Manners are not disappearing, they are just becoming more expensive.
*They never sleep
If the Traders Road Transport Association ever wanted a motto, I think "Ever vigilant" might do quite nicely. I'll bet you didn't realize—and I certainly did not mitil recently—that a member of the Association's staff has been present at every sitting of the Commons Committee debating the Transport Bill. Director Hugh Featherstone and secretary Garry Turvey have been prominent in this piece of dedicated vigilance on behalf of members, which has involved plenty of midnight oil but which, they tell me, has been absolutely invaluable.
Potentially embarrassing footnote: they have been the only observers most of the time, I understand.