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148 
arting's fuel duty hike slammed by industry
Page 6
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By Roanna Avison, Roger Brown and Joanna Bourke THE GOVERNMENT'S decision to increase fuel duty to counter a cut in VAT has been met with fury from the industry.
The Road Haulage Association (RHA), the Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) have all accused the Government of raising hauliers' costs at a time when they're struggling with cash flow. While hauliers can reclaim VAT on diesel from the Government, the extra fuel duty cannot.
Therefore, the decision to slash VAT to 15% but add 2.5% to fuel duty from Monday (1 December) actually adds costs to hauliers' businesses. The 1.84p/lit fuel duty rise planned for April next year will see costs will rise even further.
The Government has also confirmed that it will continue with its plan to add 0.5p/lit above the price index on 1 April 2010.
James Hookham, FTA director of policy, says: "Alastair Darling has a cynical disregard for the problems of many small and medium-sized commercial vehicle operators across the country.
"By offsetting the reduction in VAT with an increase in fuel duty, he has added thousands to the transport bills of companies."
RI-IA chief executive Roger King concurs. "The Chancellor claims the increase in duty will be offset by a reduction in VAT.
"But he does not seem to appreciate that while this may be