It's time for action on fuel!
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Speaking at the Westminster fuel duty lobby, Owen Paterson MP told hauliers that they need to make their MPs' lives "miserable" over the punitive levels of fuel duty. But short of driving an artic through his surgery window, how can a haulier min an MP's day? Commercial Motor offers a few ideas...
• The Budget is over: the fight over fuel duty rates goes on. While the Chancellor refused to accept the haulage industry's argument this time, changes can still be made— and your doorway into this local Member of process is your Parliament. But how do you approach your MP, what should you say...and what action can you expect him or her to take? local Member of
First contact
You can write to your MP at the local constituency office or at the House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A OAA. If you don't know the constituency address, simply look at the local area information and under political parties in your telephone directory.
Alternatively, you can phone the House of Commons on 0171219 3000 and ask to be put through to your MP's office. But if you really want to get your message across you can talk to your MP face to face at the local "surgery" he or she will hold, where constituents are invited to discuss topics of concern. Some MPs hold surgeries weekly or fortnightly; others only infrequently You may be invited to simply turn uo at a surgery and wait your turn, but some MPs will give you an appointment. Contact your MP's secretary at the local office or via the Commons office for details of when surgeries are being run and how to apply for an appointment.
What to say
Whether you are writing to your MP or meeting at a surgery, you need to know exactly what you want to put across. Make sure your MP knows not just that your business is suffering, but why (see panel, right).
Decide in advance what facts you want to present, and don't bombard your MP with details of your clients and business: just put the point as clearly and simply as possible and ask for some action.
What to expect
Ideally your MP will pass your comments on to the relevant Government minister, and will follow this up by talking directly to the minister to apply pressure on your behalf. No change is likely to be made before the next Budget—but the earlier you start making your views known, the more time there will be for pressure to build up.
It's a fact of life that your MP can simply ignore any letters you write and can choose not to see you in any surgeries he or she may be running. However, MPs would be foolish to totally ignore their constituents' griev ances, particularly if they are consistently getting the same message from a large number of them.
If you fail to get the response you are looking for, keep trying. Be prepared to attend several surgeries or to write several letters—and encourage employees and their families to do likewise. After all, the fuel escalator is also putting their livelihoods at risk.
Further pressure
If all else fails, write a forceful letter pointing out your disappointment at the MP's lack of response and stressing that you won't be voting for him or her next time round. MPs in marginal seats will be particularly vulnerable to this sort of pressure. After all, they simply cannot afford to let too many people reach this state of mind if they want to stay in their jobs comes the next election.
Publicity is a powerful tool, so if you still don't get a satisfactory response, try contacting your local newspaper and radio stations to see if you can get them interested in why a serving MP won't look after the interests of the constituents he or she supposedly represents.
You might also try talking to fellow hauliers in the area and see if you can enlist their support—and while you're at it, contact your local chamber of commerce, trades council...anyone who you can persuade to approach your MR
Last but not least, of course, keep us informed here at Commercial Motor and we'll do whatever we can to help keep the pressure up.
But whatever you do, for goodness sake do something. Because if you wait until the next Budget to make your feelings known, it may just be too late.
• The Road Haulage Association is planning a series of seminars during April and May on lobbying your MP For further information phone 01932 841515.