§ 66. Mr. Errollasked the Minister of Fuel and Power why all new contracts, with only one exception, for the road haulage of open cast coal in the North-Western Region have been awarded to a new firm, the Open Cast Hauliers Association (Wigan), Limited.
§ Mr. RobensThe hon. Member has been misinformed. Only one contract out of the three which were let in the North Western Region was awarded to Open Cast Hauliers Association (Wigan), Limited.
§ Mr. ErrollAs this was, nevertheless, by far the largest contract of the three, is it not an unfortunate coincidence that the managing director of the Wigan Road Haulage Association should only have left the Ministry of Transport on 30th September this year?
§ Mr. RobensI am sorry that the hon. Gentleman put such an allegation into a supplementary question. I always thought that hon. Members opposite were in favour of the small man, and the Open Cast Hauliers Association of Wigan consists in fact of the small firms who already did open cast haulage and who have formed themselves into an association in order that they can comply with the terms of the tender.