No Co-operatic),
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The announcement by the Prime Minister, last weeker that the Government is to encourage the establishmen of business co-operatives will not be greeted with any degree of enthusiasm in the haulage industry. Indeed, road haulage can be taken as a fair "market surveyo the concept, Mr Callaghan would do well to think agai There are degrees of co-operation in transport, notably few tipper groups and the Transport Association. NonE of them co-operates totally.
Small companies — and they would seem to be the target for any co-operative working — value their independence too much to hand it over, even in part, t others. Since one of the partners would almost certainl be the Government, there will be violent opposition.
If this is the Socialist answer to the Opposition's concern for the small trader it is the wrong way to tackl it. What they want is less interference, not more.
It is more likely to be constructed as Jim Callaghan': watered-down version of nationalisation and will prove too weak for his Left Wing and too dangerous for those involved. Forget it, PM.