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Sleeping tigers awake to the LRUC threat
Page 32
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WHAT AN INTERESTING edition of Commercial Motor (CM 11 August 2005).
Are the sleeping tigers at the trade associations finally awakening? Better late than never,! suppose.The criticism [over the Lorry Road User Charge] must have hit a raw nerve.
I am sure Eddie Stobart,Willi Betz and Nobble D'angle will breathe a sigh of relief that someone else is now carrying the can for what ails our industry.
But is it too little, too late? Would Gordon Brown and Tony Blair be more concerned about our industry if the support for the fuel protest had been more solid? I expect their lack of concern is based on their belief that they can, if pushed, offer a few pence as a peace token at some time in the future.
The French government, following a very strong protest, introduced an essential user rebate for operators, which I have received. Most useful.
And what about our road network? Chaos. Meanwhile our glorious Secretary of State, Alistair Darling, blows in the region of £300m a year on advisers and consultants.
The LRUC has been a perfect example. Spain, Italy and France were not able to join the vignette system because they had toll roads and would not be able to introduce other charges because of these toll roads.
Did one of Alistair's skivvies eventually read the EU rules and realise we also had toll roads, tunnels and bridges meaning the LRUC might have been illegal?
Now the trade associations are rousing I will offer my full support for whatever action they consider necessary and expect others to do the same— but not at some obscure time in the futurc.Time is running out for many; we are talking about weeks, at the most months.
Peter F Orr Plymouth