BE HEARD ON THE STREETS
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ity the top brass at the Road Haulage
,
Association. Tormented by the Treasury on fuel
I :
tax and VED. Ignored by civil servants who
could previously-be relied on for a sympathetic ear. And now battered by members who feel the association's "creeping to politicians" policy has delivered nothing. Whatever next? Heaven forbid that Commercial Motor should try to tell Steven Norris what to do. But here goes anyway: If RHA members are disaffected with the current Fair Play on Fuel campaign, then the folks at Weybridge have only themselves to blame. When the chance came to jump on the TransAction bandwagon, senior RHA figures asked CM: 'What are we going to do about these people?", forgetting that many are also RHA members. The impression given to us was that Trans-Action was a nuisance. But ifthe RHA leadership had been cute it would have seen the Trans-Action uprising for what it was: the right protest, at the right time and in the right place. Instead of trying to take that anger and stage manage it into safe, responsible rallies it should have taken the plunge and joined the awkward squad out on the street, and woken up the one group of people that politicians {and Labour spin-doctors in particular) are very keen to keep on-side—namely The Great British Public, The best way to wake up the GBP is to shake it forcibly out of its slumber, and that inevitably includes inconveniencing it. Otherwise why bother protesting? Campaigning on the streets isn't the best way to highlight the plight of British hauliers: it's the ONLY way, which is why Trans-Action started doing it. When the Countryside movement wanted to tell the Government where to get off it marched thousands through the capital, bringing it to a halt. The Government got the message all right. But right now noone's getting the message on road transport. Not the politicians. Not the Government. And certainly not the GB?. Time for a different approach, Mr N?