COMMENT
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Message received?
When "The Great Communicator" Ronald Reagan was running for US President his campaign managers employed a powerful series of TV ads to highlight the difference between him and Jimmy Carter.
Against images of anti-American demonstrations a booming voice declared: "Do you think terrorists from third-world countries would laugh in our faces and burn the American flag if Ronald Reagan had been president?"
Is it too simplistic to apply the same kind of rhetoric to this week's action? "Do you think the Great British Public would really be aware of the plight of Britain's hauliers if it hadn't been for the media coverage created by The Day of Action?" Would the Government have been so keen to create a Haulage Industry Forum—if it hadn't been for The Day of Action? But perhaps that's giving the Park Lane park-up just a bit too much credibility.
Not everyone was impressed by the protest. Witness The Mirror's vitrolic diatribe. That may be nothing more than a case of tabloid infighting against The Sun. But fans of direct action shouldn't assume everyone is behind them.
Meanwhile we have to see what the Haulage Industry Forum can deliver—perhaps little more than "jaw jaw", for as transport minister John Reid warns, there's no magic wand for diesel duty and VED.
If it doesn't ease the problem then operators might decide to use direct action again as the only way of getting the message over. Then the forum will be seen as nothing more than a stalling tactic. For many hauliers time is in short supply. The message to Reid should be simple: "Don't try the industry's patience"