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Empty rhetoric
Page 18
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The BNP has targeted truckers who feel. they are being ignored by the Government. What can a party outside of mainstream politics offer the industry?
Words: Joanna Bourke IN OCTOBER, CM exclusively revealed the British National Party (BNP) had kicked off a lorry driver recruitment campaign in a ploy to attract those in the industry who felt they weren't a priority for the existing Government (BNP campaign targets UK drivers' CM 2 Ocother).
Clearly, some drivers and operators are being attracted, because, as Simon Darby, the BNP's deputy leader, claims, "dozens" have joined up.
Since the start of the campaign, transport industry trade bodies have questioned the rationale behind some of the BNP policies. The Road Haulage Association (RI-IA) says it makes no reference to how it would pull Britain out of the EU, and has dismissed its campaign for lacking any substance.
Racist connotations
Several other organisations are also concerned about the party's racist connotations. A spokesman for the United Road Transport Union (URTU) has urged drivers not to get involved. He says: "This is a campaign to recruit new members into a far-right political organisation. Drivers should have nothing to do with the BNP."
Meanwhile, Jo Tanner. director of communications for the Freight Transport Association (FTA), says she's disappointed at the industry having any relations with the party. She argues: "The connotations hark back to the dark ages, rather than to the future."
Ken Griffiths is the BNP's councillor for Coseley, West Midlands, and an HGV driver of 24 years. He recently lost his job at a local haulage firm. He says: "There have been 18 redundancies recently, and there could be more. Overnight, with the credit crunch, things got so bad."
He proposes better conditions and pay for drivers due to the skills and difficulty the job demands. So it is easy to see why drivers might feel neglected when, just last month, the Government boosted failing UK banks with £37bn, while the road haulage industry is still wiating for a decent fuel rebate.
SG, that said, would the BNP focus on saving British drivers? Given that the whole sector is struggling under the weight of the credit crunch, it could be argued that drivers of all nationalities are suffering. As Griffiths himself points out, a number of Polish drivers at his old firm are returning home because there is not enough work to go round.
One comment on the BNP's website claims it is -...the party that will prioritise the British haulage industry by cutting taxation, cutting Euro legislation, restricting Euro trucks and taxing their fuel and taxing them at our rates at the port of entry".
While many in the industry would like to see greater regulation and taxation for foreign hauliers, change does not happen overnight.
The UK Independence Party (UKIP) says that while it would also like to withdraw from the EU, its main concern is driver safety.
A spokesman states: "We believe lorries regularly coming into the country must have the same standards as UK drivers and trucks."
The Labour Party declined to offer a comment on the campaign, and it seems even the BNP has shown an ambivalent attitude towards the industry.
Paul Golding, a London haulier and one of the instigators behind the BNP campaign, tells CM the lorry driver recruitment campaign will be put on hold until the BNP's national conference finishes on 15 November.
Fighting spirit
Golding was unveiled as the head of transport at the Solidarity Union on 10 November, but the general secretary for Solidarity, Patrick Harrington, is keen to stress the haulage sector only accounts for 5,-7% of membership, and that the union prides itself on welcoming anyone from any race or any party. "The BNP campaign is separate from us," he maintains.
Harrington adds that the only motive for Solidarity is to genuinely look out for each other, and provide legal rights for those mistreated.
As this year's fuel protests show, the industry still has a fighting spirit and drivers need to remain unified. However, attracting the kind of negative publicity that the BNP could bring, may well undermine any goodwill earned during the summer. •