14 JANUARY 1955, Page 3

UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER

THE one \ thing that emerges clearly from the settlement of the railway dispute is that it is not a settlement at all. The NUR has got what it wanted, but the question of where the money is to come from remains unanswered, not only by Sir Brian Robertson, but by the Government itself. Plainly, the Transport Commission's theory is that the Govern- ment has forced it to yield; the official ministerial line to date is that the Transport Commission must take the responsibility for the terms which it has accepted. If these terms should involve fresh contributions from the Exchequer, the Govern- ment must decide what to do in the light of the Commission's requests and the industry's needs.