Hon. Anthony Berry: Does the Minister agree that, since it was part of the 1968 Act that this company should come to an end and most of its important duties for passengers and freight have ended and it is now acting mainly as travel agents, it is time that these important people were freed from this responsibility instead of having to look after companies such as the Penarth Dock Company, whose profits have...
Hon. Anthony Berry: asked the Minister of Transport what is the average rate of railway mileage closures for the five years 1960 to 1964 and for the five years 1965 to 1969.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Since the Minister, in his own words, always tells the whole story, does he agree that this is a vindication of the last Government's policy on the railways, and does he accept that the Prime Minister's words on this subject were as untrue as most of the other statements he has made?
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am sure that my hon. Friend would thank the Minister and accept his suggestion that the Amendment be incorporated in Clause 6(1). The important thing is to have it in the Bill and I am happy to have it in Clause (6). I thank the Minister for the new Clause, which arises out of Amendments which I moved in Committee when I described this part of the Bill as being a supreme example of...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I hoped at one time that the Minister would give us some new or convincing reasons for opposing these Amendments. I even thought that he might accept them. When he began by trying to show, rather unsuccessfully, that my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Edward M. Taylor) has slightly different views from those of my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Surrey, East (Mr....
Hon. Anthony Berry: At the risk of being out of order, I should like to talk about the Ports Bill. First, I should have liked to know from the hon. Member for Ebbw Vale (Mr. Michael Foot) whether he holds the same view about the present Minister of Transport as he did about a previous Minister in the last Guillotine debate, when he described the right hon. Lady as the only good Minister in a nutty Government....
Hon. Anthony Berry: The hon. Member for Harrow, East (Mr. Roebuck), who interrupts from a sedentary position, is one Member of this House who speaks even longer on the Floor of the House than my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow, Cathcart (Mr. Edward M. Taylor), and talks very much less sense, if any sense at all. I would remind the Leader of the House that when the 1947 Transport Bill was guillotined it was...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Is not it extraordinary that there is to be a guillotine Motion on the Ports Bill when we come back after the Recess, when 50 Clauses out of 61 have been dealt with? Would not the time be better spent doing something about the very old, whom the Government have so disgracefully neglected?
Hon. Anthony Berry: asked the Minister of Transport what are the results of the experimental zig-zag markings outside schools.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Would the hon. Gentleman not agree that it is desirable to have an area outside schools where parking is banned, but which could be kept purely for parents setting down and picking up children? Does he realise that this would enable the children to wait safely on the pavement instead of running about the streets, perhaps causing serious accidents?
Hon. Anthony Berry: asked the Minister of Transport what progress has been made in the planning of road communications required to serve a third London airport.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Does the hon. Gentleman not agree that it is urgent that this part of the inquiry should be kept level with the rest, particularly in view of today's report by the South East Council about the possibility of Foulness as a third London Airport? Would he not agree that it is vital that road facilities should be a central part of the report and implemented at the same time as any other...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am sure that I carry the Parliamentary Secretary with me when I say that it is pleasant to move from the rather more turbulent waters which surround the ports of this country, metaphorically speaking, into the more tranquil waters further inland. I signed the Motion asking that this Bill be read a Second time in six months not for the purpose of delaying it, but, like my hon. Friend the...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Yes, and the numbers. Subsection (3) of that Clause says that every tender should not only have the name but also the words "Tender to" as well as the number. Since many of these boats are extremely attractive, this could easily spoil the effect. The owners of such boats ought to be consulted as to the best way in which these details should be shown. I agree with my hon. Friend about the...
Hon. Anthony Berry: I am grateful to my hon. Friend for that comment. What happens if the master has been asked to send his certificate and two or three days later is asked again for it? He would not get it back and send it again within three days. Therefore, I feel that it is too short a time, although I appreciate my hon. Friend's point. To return to the definition of houseboat, Clause 12 reinforces my...
Hon. Anthony Berry: Injury time!
Hon. Anthony Berry: asked the Minister of Transport whether, in view of the increase in passenger arrivals at Heathrow Airport on account of the jumbo jet coming into regular service and the need for British Railways, Southern Region, to complete their plans for their new signalling equipment, he has now come to a decision about a rail or underground link with Heathrow; and whether he will make a statement.
Hon. Anthony Berry: Is the Minister aware that his reply is rather unsatisfactory, since he told me in November that a decision would be announced early in the new year? To facilitate his Answer, I put my supplementary questions into my Question to show how important the matter was. The right hon. Gentleman must make an urgent decision on this vital matter.
Hon. Anthony Berry: In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the answer, I give notice that at the earliest possible moment I shall seek to raise the matter on the Adjournment.
Hon. Anthony Berry: asked the Minister of Transport what plans he has to install overhead lighting both on existing motorways and on those not yet completed.
