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Ladyman says road charging is 'inevitable'
Page 6
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By Joanna Bourke
FORMER LABOUR transport minister Dr Stephen Ladyman MP has warned hauliers that road pricing will be commonplace in 20 years, and the haulage industry should embrace it to balance competition with foreign rivals During a speech at the Freight Transport Association's (FTA) Urban Logistics Conference last week, the Labour MP suggested fuel duty and VED would have to be cut to convince the electorate of the benefits of road-pricing.
His comments came four years after the Lorry Road User Charge (LRUC) was dumped by the government.
"1 think you will eventually have to buy a slot to be on the road. People are going to have to see it's not about raising cash," he said.
"If VED was to go down and foreign hauliers had to pay to use our roads, truckers would have fairer competition," he added.
Roger King, chief executive at the Road Haulage Association (RHA). would accept road pricing "if there was a flat rate for hauliers. or maybe no charges at night'.'
"We are suspicious it would mean digging deeper into operators' pockets."
Stephen Kelly, FTA head of urban access policy, says: "If you pay £5 to deliver on the roads, then you want to see E6 of benefits."
• See comment on page 3