§ 49. Mr. Ernest Daviesasked the Minister of Transport with which unions he offered to consult on the formulation of Government transport policy; what was the date of the offer; and what was the nature of the reply received.
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydOn 16th May, I wrote personally both to the Chairman and the General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress offering to consult them 29 and their colleagues about the Government's transport policy. On 19th May, the Chairman replied that the views of the Executive Committee of the Transport and General Workers' Union had already been conveyed to my predecessor on 12th December, 1951, and that the Trades Union Congress was considering the matter and would probably be formulating their policy about it. On 28th May, the General Secretary sent me a copy of a statement on the Government's proposals issued that day by the Publicity Department of the Trades Union Congress and said that the General Council considered that consultation could proceed usefully only on the basis of the Bill.
§ Mr. DaviesIn view of the fact that the Government's statement on transport policy was issued on the 8th, just a week before the T.U.C. were invited to consult, was it not hypocritical to suggest, as the right hon. Gentleman did, that the trade unions were invited to consult in the formulation of transport policy?
§ Mr. Lennox-BoydNo, Sir, certainly not. In regard to the absence of consultation before publication of the White Paper, I dealt with that at great length in the speech I made on the White Paper when I quoted in aid observations made by the last Labour Minister of Transport on that theme. With regard to consultation before the publication of the Bill, the facts are as stated in my answer.