AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

- WESTMINSTER

5th August 1977, Page 7
5th August 1977
Page 7
Page 7, 5th August 1977 — - WESTMINSTER
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

HAUL

IT used to be said that the lowliest Ministerial job was Assistant Postmaster General. There is no general agreement about who has taken over on the bottom rung of the ladder which ends at No 10 since the ancient office of PMG was abolished. But there can be little doubt about who has the most unenviable task — the team responsible for Prices and Consumer Protection.

Talk about kicks and h'pence! For every 1/2p added to prices, this trio gets kicked from one end of the Commons to the other.

They can't win. Not even when prices come down.

For instance, they might have got a few muted choruses of "For they are jolly good fellows" when cheaper petrol was discussed in the Commons last week — even though they (or the Government for that matter) were not responsible for the cut in tax.

But no All that Tory Fred Silvester and Liberal Emlyn Hooson could go on about was the danger of the pumps running dry on the weekend before the tax cut.

Robert Maclennan, the Under Secretary, resisted the temptation to say that, if drivers let their fuel indicators get below zero and then found that the nearest garage had no supplies, he could not be expected to run up with a full can.

Instead, he pointed out that the tax reduction had been postponed for three days "to a period after the holiday" (holiday?) But his patience evaporated as quickly as that last spoonful of petrol when the formidable Mrs Sally Oppenheinri, who deals with prices for the Tories, started talking about the confusion of litres.

"The only confusion appears to be in the mind of the hon lady. She does her best to obscure the clear on every possible occasion" . . . nice one, Robert!

Minister of State John Fraser had to stick more to the point when he was questioned about decimals, the prices, such as 84.9p per gallon, which some petrol stations charge.

How could one pay 0.9p, asked Labour man Joan Evans, not unreasonably.

Mr Fraser had no direct answer, but he explained that it was not the Government's fault.

When the Petrol Prices (Display) Order was made, there were no powers to ban fractions of a penny — that power was contained in the' Price Commission Act, which came along later.

"We shall watch the operation of the order very carefully," he promised.

We never had problems like this in the good old days when shopkeepers charged nineteen and eleven..


comments powered by Disqus