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CHRISTMAS CHEER?
Page 3
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Just when we thought market conditions had stabilised enough to bring diesel prices back in order. Gordon Brown stuffs the industry with a fuel duty rise. Talk about a slap in the face.
We can only applaud the hard work of the Haulage Industry Task Group. The RHA. FTA and CBI are rightly proud of their achievements and the arguments which they say have won acknowledgement from government. But it would appear that acknowledgement does not extend to the Treasury.
While we're at it, what's with this biodiesel 'green' tax? CMwould welcome realistic green taxes -such as slapping a bucketload of fuel duty on air operators who have run scot-free for decades. But what troubles us is the Chancellor raising the fuel duty on biodiesel while calling it a green tax. If a signal were needed of the true motives behind the much-vaunted Stern Report then this is it. That report is no more about a cleaner environment than CMis about the railways.
"The Chancellor has consistently ignored the needs of road transport"
It is hypocrisy at best to claim the moral high ground on green issues and then clout the only initiative we have with taxes. Biodiesel may be a stopgap solution to reducing oil consumption. but it is currently one of the only options we have.
Additionally, there was no mention of the long-hinted-at incentive for the early uptake of Euro-5 or other reduced emissions initiatives, which would have made a further contribution to making the country cleaner and greener.
Overall it was a disappointing pre-Budget statement. This Chancellor may have worked well for the economy, but he has consistently ignored the needs of the freight industry which supports our economic success. We can't imagine that the E5 tax on airline tickets will have anything like the impact on the airline business that the hike in diesel will have on our industry.
Of course you must try to pass costs on to customers, and brace yourself for hard negotiation. But we remain concerned that for many smaller road transport firms, this latest governmental 'support will be the straw that finally breaks their backs.