Labour MPs have doubts
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From our Political correspondent
• Two Scottish Labour MPs, reflecting anxiety north of the border, have tabled amendments to the Transport Bill which would completely remove special long-distance road haulage licensing (quantity licensing) from Mrs. Castle's package of proposals.
Confident that they were voicing the opinion of many other Scots MPs, the Tories capitalized on their move on Tuesday by issuing a statement saying Scottish Labour MPs were "threatening the Government's majority" in the committee considering the Bill.
Mr. James Bennett (Glasgow Bridgeton) and Mr. Peter Doig (Dundee West) appeared to be far from mounting an outright rebellion against the Minister.
I understand they have called for the exclusion of the offending clauses mainly to ensure that quantity licensing gets a full explanation and debate in the committee, and to be able to make strong reservations about the way it could harm Scottish transport and industry.
They are chiefly concerned about the tooeasy way the railways could block the granting of a quantity licence without having to prove that carriage by rail would be positively better. But they are believed to be basically in favour of shifting some of the expanding volume of goods traffic onto rail.
Provided Mrs. Castle makes the right noises and proves flexible enough for the Scots, they are not likely to cause her too much trouble when clause 67 and its companions are reached.
This may be sad news for hauliers, who have shown great interest in the attitude of the only two Scots Labour MPs on the committee. It will also be a disappointment for the Tories. The attitude of the unions has not, I understand, been canvassed. However, the Conservatives still have great hopes of an all-out Scottish torpedo attack from both sides of the committee. Mr. Peter Walker's statement on Tuesday was headed "Scottish MPs May Slash Transport Bill," and pointed out that his own two spokesmen, Mr. Gordon Campbell (Moray and Nairn) and Mr. Edward Taylor (Glasgow Cathcart) have repeatedly stressed the harm the Bill could do to Scotland and development areas in general.