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The Lord giveth...
Just seven days ago on this page we welcomed John Prescott's statement that he wanted to help make the haulage sector more competitive and would look at reviewing VED rates next year. It was accompanied by another statement that congestion charging would be put on the back burner for a few years while the authorities invested to make public transport a realistic alternative.
A week really is a long time in politics. Labour MP Ken Livingstone has unveiled plans to charge vehides entering central London from 2001, if he becomes London's mayor.
While hauliers will undoubtedly welcome the reduction in inner city traffic from his proposed L5 charge to car drivers, they will be less impressed by plans to charge trucks up to £15 for the same privilege.
An administration that really understood the importance of truck deliveries to the daily beat of a city's pulse would charge trucks nothing at all. It is now widely accepted, after all, that unnecessary car journeys cause most of the congestion—not essential truck movements.
Surprisingly (or maybe not) exact charging details will not be announced until after the mayoral election. A case of the Lord giving and his henchmen taking away, we wonder?
• Earl Attlee's fresh initiative to introduce the necessary legislation for truck impounding is good news for all law-abiding operators and Commercial Motor is happy to pledge its full support.
We've said it before and we'll say it again: impounding is the only effective deterrent in combating cowboys who don't even bother to get an 0-licence. Take away their toys, and they'll find it hard to carry on playing the same game.