RHA says last ditch demo
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could follow Dover....
a by Sally Nash
Road Haulage Association chairman John Bridge is considering a last-ditch "live or die" demonstration in the autumn to drive the fuel message home.
Bridge says: it may be time for an all-or-nothing situation where we say turn up and support the demonstration, but if you don't then stop complaining."
Having observed the lack of support for the Dover protest last week. Bridge believes that a co-ordinated approach—with Trans-Action and the Hauliers and Farmers Alliance—is essential:1f we're going to do it, we've got to do it together and put our minor differences aside," adds Bridge.
Any action needs to be timed to coincide with the end of the Parliamentary recess at the end of October. And it needs to be held in London, not Dover, says Bridge.
He is vowing to continue the fight for an essential user rebate, despite the latest rebuff in the Transport Select Committee's report.
"In fact it makes it more of a challenge," says Bridge.
The Freight Transport Association, meanwhile, still believes it is following the right path by persuading the government through dialogue. The association says it has just received a "positive response" to its letter to Chancellor Gordon Brown, asking for "urgent action" to bring UK fuel taxes in line with others in the EU.
ETA director-general David Green declined to release the letter to the press but says the Treasury recognises the importance of fair competition to the industry. The letter spells out the actions that the government has already taken to help hauliers.
"I am confident we are moving ahead in the right direction," argues Green.