• COMMENT ELECTION
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• So there is to be an election. Do not expect it to be fought on the issues facing the transport industry which will, in general, continue to be the victim of whatever government or party is in power.
There is little that members of the road haulage can do, individually or collectively, to influence what each party will promise or propose in the next few weeks. There is, however, a great deal that each and every one of us can do to affect the outcome of the election.
It is the duty of every person concerned with the future of the road haulage industry to make sure that he or she knows what each party proposes. It is everybody's duty to find out what the local candidates think about issues such as environmental restrictions, the artificial forcing of traffic onto the railways, the provision of an adequate road system, progress towards European harmonisation and the like.
The people who are elected in one month's time will, in all probability, be making decisions on those topics for the next four or five years. It is vital that the right people make those decisions as MPs — because they will affect the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people in the industry. In the real world, that's more important than whether or not Enid Blyton books are available to school children, or personal income tax cuts, or any of the politicians' other hobby horses. It's your future being voted on in June, so spend you time now on learning the issues — and vote in your industry's best interests when the time comes.