HC Deb 11 November 1968 vol 773 cc19-20
32. Mr. Strauss

asked the Minister of Transport whether he will give a general direction to British Railways not to have piped music on their trains.

Mr. Marsh

No, Sir. It is a matter of management for the Railways Board to decide about experiments of this sort.

Mr. Strauss

Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is quite intolerable that railway passengers should be deprived through inescapable piped music of the right to sleep, work or think in peace? Is not this question, which involves the invasion of individual privacy, an issue which should be settled not by the railway administration, but by the responsible Minister?

Mr. Marsh

In reply to the first point, as my hon. Friend knows—because he has faced the same problems—the Minister's powers do not extend to detailed management, nor do I think that they should. There has, I think, been a great deal of misunderstanding over this experiment. Its main purpose was to transmit, not music, but information. It is not, and never was, the intention that music should be transmitted for other than very short periods. No music is being played now, nor will it be considered until the end of the three months' experiment. In any case, it is not intended to play music throughout journeys.

Mr. Peter Walker

Will the Minister at least obtain a guarantee from the Chairman of British Railways that no disc jockeys will be making offensive remarks to the Prime Minister?

Mr. Marsh

The number of people who would want to make offensive remarks about the Prime Minister is so limited that that would not arise.

Mr. Emrys Hughes

Does the reference to piped music mean music from the bagpipes?

Mr. Marsh

Should the problem arise, it would be only on the London-Glasgow line.