It might be good news
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Rumours of an announcement by Gordon Brown about a "Britdisc" scheme in his Budget Statement have lifted many spirits this week. Such a scheme could help level the playing field between British and foreign hauliers in exactly the way that is needed. But if Brussels decides it isn't legal unless British hauliers also pay towards it in some way, the Britdisc could simply raise already high operating costs.
Whether there is anything to the rumours remains to be seen—but when you put them in context, it seems things may be looking up. Gordon Brown's unannounced attendance at a recent meeting of hauliers in Leeds, for instance, coupled with the curious silence from those involved about what was said and done there, suggests positive news might be on the cards.
So, too, does the announcement of a DTi-chaired Select Committee to investigate competition in the haulage industry. Can this possibly mean that the DTi distrusts the earlier DOT Select Committee report which found, incredibly, that high fuel duty helps British haulage?
We won't find out for some time, of course, but whatever the case, this is the first time we can recall so many government figures looking into the state of the industry for themselves, rather than relying on second-hand spin.
Maybe we're hopeless optimists, and maybe these events will merely confirm the Treasury's current policies on fuel duty. But to our mind it's encouraging that the Treasury will have another chance to examine the evidence. Who knows, perhaps this time it really is the prelude to hauliers getting the tax break they so richly deserve.
Over to you, Gordon.