Our call to arms
Page 3
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And we're off! While the date for the 2010 general election has yet to be confirmed, industry stakeholders are already campaigning hard, pleading road transport's case to both the powers-that-be and the powers-that-would-be.
Some of you might ask: "Why bother? Politicians aren't interested in transport.There are many reasons why the stakeholders are bothering and why you and we at CM must do our part. One of the key reasons is the opportunity this election represents an opportunity we haven't had since 1997.
That opportunity? A change of government, and with it a generation of MPs who nave not served before. The Freight Transport Association (ETA) has targeted every prospective candidate who has a reasonable chance of winning their seat and serf them each a copy of its election manifesto (see p6). The ETA's thinking is clear: prevention is better than cure, so grab their attention before they become an MP.
"We want them to understand our industry before they are elected because once they get elected they have every industry knocking at their doors and it's too late," the FTA's Jo Tanner tells CM.
The ETA's demands will largely match those of the Road Haulage Association and those CM and Motor
Transport will be issuing and there's one demand we all agree on: invest in infrastructure. The poor quality of the UK's infrastructure has been noted often by CM, and while publicsector cutbacks are certain, the already low
investment must be maintained. The UK needs it, the construction industry needs it and the road transport industry needs it, Justin Stanton se*"