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Fuel protest in London attracts strong turnout

1st May 2008, Page 6
1st May 2008
Page 6
Page 7
Page 6, 1st May 2008 — Fuel protest in London attracts strong turnout
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

By Brian Weathortey /Dave Young

WHAT WAS BILLED as a "modest protest" by haulage pressure group Transaction proved to be anything but this week, as close to 100 trucks from as far afield as Shrewsbury, Cornwall, Kent and Wales delivered an unequivocal message to the government that almost five years on since the last mass demonstration in London's Park Lane, the problems facing UK operators have got worse, not better.

The latest on-street protest comes against a backdrop of diesel costs rising by 31% in a year; they now typically represent 40% of the operating costs of a 44-tonne truck. The procession of trucks, lead by a low-loader carrying a coffin depicting the demise of the UK road haulage industry, generated more solid support than previous demos in Essex and Wales. Protest organiser Mike Presneill, managing director of Kent-based tipper operator PTC, was pleased with the turnout, declaring: "We've had up to 60 operators from Kent and another 30 from the North and other parts of the country."

And on the day when Shell announced its annual results, Road Haulage Association (RHA) chief executive Roger King told journalists: "Oil companies are making record profits. None of the people here today are making anything like that. In fact, many aren't making a profit at all."

Despite clashes with the RHA, Transaction's Presneill insists he is pleased to see King at the protest. "I'm still an RHA member and will remain so as long as it does the job right. What's worrying .; is that the RHA goes into the ; Treasury with ideas, but comes

out with nothing. It doesn't have the bargaining power. We need to change that."

As CM closed for press. Presneill and other Transaction members were going to the Houses of Parliament with a letter for the Treasury, which it intended to deliver to Labour MP for Sittinghourne Derek Wyatt. "We're going to put hack under their noses the Burns report. There are plenty of solutions in there if only the Treasury is prepared to look at it."


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