Mixed blessings in Budget
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by Miles Brignall • One Liverpool haulier was so incensed by this week's budget that as CM went to press he was planning to bring one of London's busiest roads to a standstill to protest against the fuel increases.
Chris Cain, partowner of Liverpoolbased trailer mover TR Group Iloldings, was reacting to the news that Chancellor Gordon Brown had slapped a massive 5.4p/lit (24.3p a gallon) increase on diesel. The annual fuel bill for a 38-loaner running 60,000 miles a year will rise by £1,620.
However, in a bid to make environmentally friendly City Diesel more financially attractive, Brown increased the duty on ultra-low-sulphur diesel by just 4.4p/lit, effectively making it the same price as ordinary dery at the pumps.
Until this move City cut on VED-but no details yet. Diesel has been around 11)/lit more expensive. Surprisingly, the Chancellor did not cut the duty on compressed natural gas: the price remains frozen for a year.
Brown also pegged vehicle excise duty on all commercial vehicles. He again referred to the promised £500 discount for trucks with the cleanest emissions—but has yet to release any details.
However, he did make changes to the Landfill Tax and increased the duty payable on active waste from £7 per tonne to 4:10—and he abolished the tax on inert waste.
Hauliers making a profit will pay a lower rate of small companies tax: from April 1999 the rate will fall to 20p in the pound.
The Chancellor also made it cheaper to take on low-paid staff—employers will only pay National Insurance (NI) on staff who earn more than £81 a week. NI for all staff was reduced to a flat rate of 12.2%.
Steve Walker of Redditeh-based S Walker Transport describes the Budget as "ridiculous".
Walker, who runs six vehicles on recycling work, says: "This will add £21,000 to my annual fuel bill. It's a case of pass it on to the customers or go out of business." He adds that he would be prepared to get involved in an active protest if "enough of us get together".
• The Freight Transport Association is "devastated" by the fuel duty increase in Chancellor Gordon Brown's Budget. It calculates that the tax hike will cost industry £500m a year.
It expressed surprise that gas-powered vehicles were not given greater incentives.
• The Road Haulage Association attacks the fuel duty increases as "desperately bad news for hauliers everywhere".
RHA director-general Steven Norris describes the Budget as a missed opportunity: "We were really looking to see something on the essential user rebate, which Brown completely disregarded."