Handsome is as Newsom does
Sir: It is clear that the Royal Commission on the Public Schools was set up on a misconcep- tion. The true cause of the social division of this country is not the public school but the private car: how can we hope to achieve a just and egalitarian society while a privileged minority can use their wealth to buy access to parts of the country which are denied to their fellow-citizens who through no fault of their own have to rely on the state transport system? And who is not aware of the insidious advantage a private car-owner has when apply- ing for a job in competition with a candidate who arrived by bus? Indeed, the phrase 'car- owner' is becoming .more and more evident in the advertisements of those who seek employ- ment.
Many of us had hoped that members of a Labour government, brought up on the state transport system, would abolish this unneces- sary and invidious distinction. Instead, we find that as soon as they arrive they cannot wait to become private car owners themselves. This, apart from its depressing effect on the morale of the faithful, has the added disadvantage of removing from the ranks of the state transport users _many of those who would agitate most strongly for its improvement, and it also takes the zeal and urgency from their intentions to reform the system. If only the Cabinet, the Members of Parliament and all the top civil servants had to travel to work by bus every day, we should soon have a bus service that was the envy of Europe. Furthermore, the abolition of the private car would release for the state transport system of buses, ambulances and dustcarts some of the best drivers who at the moment are squandering their talents on loads of three, two, or even one.
It has been proved by surveys in Oxford Street, Piccadilly. and Ludgate Hill that the state comprehensive transport system, or omni- bus, is at least as efficient as the private car, while the democratic company is a far more enriching experience for the passengers than the arrogant isolation and social privilege of the private car, even though so many of the potentially outstanding passengers have been creamed off by the independent transport units.
It would, of course, be wasteful to abolish the private car completely, but it can easily be integrated into the state transport system. London Transport and the municipal bus com- panies should be able to buy seats for their passengers in the private transport units Pas- sengers would be selected by need; for example, those suffering from infections or contagious diseases, halitosis. agoraphobia and diseases of the central nervous system would have priority. Gradually the entire private transport system will be taken over, and the egalitarian millen- nium will have arrived.
Of course there will be some who say that the private transport system is an effect and not a cause of the divisions in our society. But then there are some w ho say that the public schools are an effect and not a cause of the divisions in our society.
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