The following two Open Letters, which were published by ‘Humberside Voice' with the support of the Hull Youth Forum, were delivered to audiemces at public meetings during the North Hull By-election in January. They are reprinted here as examples of a valuable form of activity which can help to keep the local sights on socialist principles, and which will redefine these in terms which can elicit a direct response on the basis of local experiences. An Open Letter to the Ministry of Transport, Barbara Castle
Dear irs Castle, Welcome to Hull, and congratulations on your recent appointment as Minister of Transport. We believe you to be a very good choice for this job, as this is clearly the time for new ideas and imagination to be applied to the colossal transport problems with which Britain is faced. We are confident that you will egree with us that devices like parking meters do hardly any wre than scratch at the surface of the traffic problews in towns, and that a fully co-ordinated transport: system for the whole country, as promised in the Manifesto before the last Gensral Election, will provide the solution on Socialist as well as commonsense grounds. One obvious point is that future development of towns and whole areas depends on the existing transport connections with the rest of the country, and to close down railway lines because they are at present making a loss is shortsighted in the extreme, (apart from being unfair to the passengers who have a right to expect a reasonable public service). Many of the lines that the Tories proposed to close down connected future development areas with the rest of the country. Imagine Birmingham or Manchester building up or waintaining their prosperity with road links alone } The recent Devlin report on the docks has shown how much needs to be done in this field as well, but the logical conclusion of Devlin's arguments, (which the report umconvincingly avoids), is that the docks should be national~ ised completely. Any solution, however, should not be worked out in isolation, but rather as part of the plan for an integrated transport system. The Humberside region , of course, is an ideal case in point. It is crying out for this new kind of planning. Present transport deficiencies are holding back the possibilities of great industrial prosperity, anda decision to build a Humber Bridge would mark a break-through of nationel importance. Of course it would be expensive, but how much are we now wasting every year in fuel, wages and time through traffic jams ? How much development of industrial potential are we preventing ? London is rightly getting a new Underground Line; Hull should get its Bridge. We are convinced that the people of Hull do not want a minister who is looking for more railway lines to close down, (are you certain of the long~ term advisability of closing the Kornsea, and the Beverley to York lines 7?) But we do believe that they would appreciate a far-sighted minister who is determined to organise an expanding transport system; with ports, docks, railways and roads under full public ownership and workers’ control.
Open Letters in the Election Campaign continued /
An Open Letter to lr. Anthony Crosland, Minister of Education
Dear Mr. Crosland,
We welcome winisterial moves to encourage and extend Comprehensive Education
but, in view of our local difficulties, we would ask you the following
questions :-
1) In view of the shortage of teachers, when are we going to begin the
‘crash programme’ of teacher recruitment promised in October 1964 2? Does
anyone in the Cabinet think that a take-home pay of £13 is going to attract
many bright youngsters into the profession ?
2) When are we, in Hull, going to be able to get rid of infants' classes
of 50 or mre; or, indeed, some secondary classes of 39 2 {We are very
careful to try and avoid the figure of 40)
3) The Minister has said that the best form ofComprehensive Education is
the 11 to 18 school. We believe that the need to re-organise primary
education wakes the pattern proposed for Hull (5 - 9, 9 - 13, 13 plus)
educationally more sound. fas the educational case put forward by the
N.U.T. been examined 7
4) When shall we see the 're-organised family allowances’ to encourage
poorer families to keep their children at school beyond the age of 15
(another 1964 promise) ?
5) Do you intend to make the public schools part of the state system;
or merely provide more free places for ‘our’ children in them ? The
ls.isr would surely bolster up the privileged sector, and have the effect
of scducing some of our best working class children from their natural
loyalties by simply adding them to the ‘old boy" network.
We look forward to your replies to these questions.