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• and Tories Say Socialists Haven't One

6th March 1964, Page 48
6th March 1964
Page 48
Page 48, 6th March 1964 — • and Tories Say Socialists Haven't One
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

FROM OUR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT THE Socialists have no detailed plan I for transport ready to put into operation, claims the Tory Party in its latest edict from Party H.Q.

"On the eve of the General Election they have started to ask the trade unions affected what their views arc about carrying out the policy of transport integration, in particular whether there should be a reduction in the number of C licences and private general haulage vehicles.

"That such a question should be asked at such a late hour pinpoints the uncertainty and confusion with which a vital industry would be faced if a Labour Government were to be returned."

Road transport, say the Tories, is a key industry, employing hundreds of thousands of men and women directly and indirectly. They are entitled to know what the Socialists intend to do about them.

Will the private fleets be bought up by the State? Or will they merely be forced into bankruptcy by the reimposition of distance and other restrictions, as Mr. Wilson has suggested?

Will firms still be allowed to carry their own goods under C licences? Or will they be forced willy-nilly to use the State system?

C-licensing was allowed under the last Socialist Government, but only after the Co-ops had brought pressure to bear on the Minister of Transport, who was a Co-op M.P. The influence of the Co-ops, however, has waned since 1947.

A final unanswered question is whether a Socialist Government would act on road transport quickly, or whether it would wait until it had the results of the comprehensive survey it is talking about. _ This. survey could take years to conduct and evaluate. What are the hauliers and the industry generally to do while they wait for the planners to make up their minds?

To keep efficient they need a constant supply of new vehicles. Can any firm, it asks, be expected to invest thousands of pounds without any assurance that the vehicles ordered will not be forced off the roads before half their effective life is over?


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