'Nationalizing Pipelines by Back Door'
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ENTY-TWO Tory M.P.s have rtabled a motion, bluntly headed Nationalization of Pipelines ", expressing concern at the agreement, reported last week, which could give the Statecontrolled railways and waterways a 50 per cent equity stake in the country's first major pipeline. They say the agreement with Trunk Pipelines Ltd.—which allows for the possibility of the State bodies acquiring the private company's assets—could be tantamount to back-door nationalization and is contrary to the whole tenor of last year's Pipeline Act.
The motion is unlikely to be discussed
by the House, but some idea of the money at stake in the rival bids to construct the first pipeline was given by the oil-consortium contenders, United Kingdom and Oil Pipelines, last week. They say they have the consent of 450 landowners to their Thames-Mersey project and of the other 350 or so, only 100 have actual objections. The consortium is offering 5s. a yard, or £25 per 100 yd. to lay its pipes, plus compensation for damage. The Minister of Power is likely to take several weeks to decide which group should be the first licensees; he has to bear in mind the common carrier angle.