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FUEL'S PARADISE
Page 10
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It might just be paranoia on our part, but the issues surrounding rocketing fuel prices appear to be being downplayed by British industry and economic pundits in the media. On the radio the other morning one even said: "Rising fuel prices aren't such a
big deal any more. UK manufacturing is nowhere near as reliant on fuel as it was in the 1970s." This may be so, but the UK economy is nowhere near as reliant on manufacturing as it was in the 1970s and to suggest the economy will not be affected by rising fuel
prices is utter cobblers. We'd venture to suggest that UK society is actually more reliant on oil than ever before. In fact the situation is extremely serious and it could put into play a very damaging state of affairs which will affect us all. Rising fuel costs
equals rising inflation, which will trigger a rise in interest rates and, given the debt we're all up to our armpits in, signal a fairly big helping of trouble for all.
That's why we're throwing our weight behind the ETA' and RHAs call for government to back away from its planned fuel duty increase in September and to wake up to the damaging effect the fuel price increase will have on the economy. In pretty much the same way no-one on high seems to grasp the essential role trucks play in keeping the economy healthy, this ignorance of the fuel facts could see us teetering on the edge of a very deep abyss.
• The claimed victory by the subbies and owner-drivers at Lafarge last September has been short-lived, with the operators and quarry locking horns again this week over new working practices. The claim is that there's no money to be made doing the job and the strike appeared to be escalating as we went to press. Things must have become pretty grim if the prospect of parking the trucks is better than working them, so we'd urge Lafarge to get around the table and start talking.
Linked with the point above, there's an air of discontent within the ranks of road transport at present. Tweak the tail too often and even the best trained dog will bite...