TARNISHED SILVER
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"Roll up, roll up, roll up! It's the big Department of Transport sell-off. Everything must go!" The late Harold MacMillan accurately summed up this Government's obsession with privatisation. It was, he said, like "selling off the family silver".
Last week the DOT revealed plans for flogging off a few more knives and forks: namely annual LGV testing and, indirectly, the nation's motorways. Let's take testing first. Despite what the industry has said on the subject Transport Secretary John MacGregor has concluded that:". ..in principle, VI's testing activities are suitable for transfer to the private sector..." Never mind that operators are against private testing, what's at stake is the independence of the test stations. The Vehicle Inspectorate currently has the independence and the impartiality—would private test stations be as immune to discrimination and corruption? There have been problems in the past on the car side. If truck testing goes private there'll be a lot more at stake than simply gaining a car MoT certificate. Presumably the DOT would still have to monitor private truck testing. So why take control away from the VI only to give it back?
We can't help wondering how many of those that replied to the consultation document on the VI changes backed private testing? And, more importantly, who they were? Those facts are locked away somewhere in a desk in Marsham Street and we'll probably never know whether the decision was simply down to political dogma. Which leads us to road pricing. How can a Government which last year raised £19.4bn through road and vehicle-related taxes—but only spent £9.4bn on national and local roads, maintenance, policing and accidents—turn round and say in future you'll have to pay extra for driving on the motorways we've all paid for countless times over? Whatever the Treasury is short of it certainly isn't cheek. According to the last Chancellor of the Exchequer: "If road charges were introduced that could ultimately pave the way for the privatisation of large parts of the motorway network." There is an alternative. Given that the current national road building programme stands at £23bn, all the DOT has to do is underspend for another couple of years and it's paid for it, Whatever hauliers end up paying for using British motorways consumers can be sure of one thing. This is one charge that will be passed On to the customer.
Of course the DOT could scrap Vehicle Excise Duty, switch it to fuel tax and create the ultimate "Pay as you Use" system where there are no dodgers, no exceptions and no mistakes.
But why listen to good sense when the Treasury is breathing down your neck? Given all the bits of cutlery this Government has sold can Commercial Motor humbly suggest one more candidate for privatisation—namely the Department of Transport. At this rate it soon won't have anything left to do., so why not try and sell it off quick— while there's still somebody daft enough to buy it.