A Woman At The Wheel

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30947, 31 December 1965, Page 12

A Woman At The Wheel

Prolonged exposure to the complaints of motorists chafing under laws and restrictions must make the Ministry of Transport an unpopular post in the British Cabinet. Demands for better roads are expensive to meet in a country where the horse, carriage, and pedestrian dictated the pattern of highways and lanes. Furthermore, the Minister in the present Government is committed to steering through a national transport plan to co-ordinate all forms of conveyance. Mrs Barbara Castle is the first woman to get the job. She is said to be a non-driver; and no doubt it will be said that this is likely to deliver her into the hands of experts. But she has the stamina required for the task; and it will be interesting to see whether a woman’s touch, though unfamiliar, will soothe the troubled motorist, the crushed commuter, and those deprived of their trains by Dr. Beeching. Motorists did not like her predecessor, Mr Fraser. He is said to detest driving his small car in dense traffic. He succeeded Mr Marples, who ran a small, fast car, but rode a bicycle wherever he could. The Minister before him, Mr Watkinson, was an engineer: and his immediate predecessor, Mr Lennox-Boyd, commanded torpedo boats during the war. Mrs Castle is among the most lively and interesting members of the Cabinet; she may also make herself one of the most famous, especially if she handles the wheel better than the men.