Up until 1960 you could happily buy a car and never have it tested for anything such as its lights or brakes as we do today. The public were becoming restless as more and more cars and trucks were starting to use Britains road system. One man was in charge with the job of introducing the new Ministry of Transport test, or the MOT as it came to be known (and is still known as even if there is no longer a Ministry of Transport). Who was the Whitehall Mandarin they gave the job to? Who is the man that means you have to look for an MOT Gloucester, Bristol, Bath or wherever you are based? MOT Gloucester company Swiftfit would be the best bet. His name was Ernest Marples.
Marples was seen as a safe pair of hands. He had already introduced new innovations to the British public. One was the Premium bonds which was like a forerunner to the National Lottery but with smaller prizes. The second was the concept of the Postcode. This, it was explained, meant that postmen and women would never lose your letters ever again.
He was a Tory. He was given the role of Minister for transport in the full knowledge that his company built roads. Unsurprisingly, he ordered a vast section of the M1 to be built by his company and he appointed Doctor Beeching in charge of the railways fully aware that the man wanted to close them and build more roads. Marples eventually fled to Monaco so he wouldn’t go to prison for tax evasion.