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Less stick, more carrot
Page 3
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Sometimes you just have to say something plainly. So here goes. We hope that any future government does not act on the advice offered by the final report of the UK Green Fiscal Commission (CFCI.
The 'who' you may ask? The GFC was set up in 2007, and describes itself as an independent body of -experts from business, leading academics and senior MPs".
Its final report, published earlier this week, recommends that "raising further revenue from mad transport and aviation, rather than from higher taxes on household incomes or employment, is a clear way to reduce emissions efficiently and hasten the transition to a tow-carbon transport system".
So the GFC wants higher fuel duty then. Not a surprise. But how will this affect the thousands of road transport firms in the UK? I have no idea, because combing the document results in zero mentions of the words: 'lorry', 'truck' or 'freight'.
The report fails to mention how the supply chain for the entire economy of this country will work in this idyllic low-carbon transport system.
If hauliers are to pay even higher fuel taxes, where on the balance sheet of any operator are you going to find spare cash to invest in new green technology?
What is sad is that this report will probably be considered in greater depth by more policy-makers than any plea the road transport industry has made for sensible taxation on its vital activities because it is 'green'. We can't argue that cutting the costs of doing business and, by proxy reducing the amount of wasteful carbon produced is not a good thing. But it is time the government offered this industry
a little more carrot and a Lot Less stick.