§ 13. Mr. Robin F. Cookasked the Secretary of State for Transport what is the estimated total expenditure on road construction and improvements by central and local government and the estimated combined net investment of the nationalised surface transport industries for the current year.
§ Mr. William RodgersOn road construction and improvements in Great Britain £821 million, and on nationalised surface transport industries £325 million.
§ Mr. CookDo not those figures show a continuing bias in my right hon. Friend's Department in favour of road construction rather than public transport? Is not Britain one of the few industrial nations which is cutting investment in its rail network? Does my right hon. Friend really believe that the network can get by on the same amount of investment as is available to the Belgian rail system, which has one-fifth of our track mileage?
§ Mr. RodgersMy answer to those questions is "No". I do not agree with my hon. Friend. Those figures of themselves do not represent a valid comparison. One could argue that the roads carry about four times as much freight and nine times as many passengers than the railways, but which is the chicken and which is the egg, which is the horse and which is the cart? Such comparisons are invidious. However, if my hon. 1422 Friends says that we must maintain a high level of investment on the railways, of course I agree, but the higher investment must be without prejudice to other decisions that we might make for other forms of transportation.
§ Mr. MaddenHas my right hon. Friend read the recent article in The Sunday Times which clearly showed that the heaviest lorries are subject to the lowest tax of all road users? Does that not represent a direct public subsidy for heavy lorries? Before we accept any blandishments from the Common Market to accept heavier and heavier lorries, will my right hon. Friend review the situation?
§ Mr. RodgersPossible steps were set out in the consultation document and they had a bearing on the Finance Act 1976.