UK isolated on 40 tonnes — Phillips
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• Britain's road hauliers have every right to criticise the EEC "for allowing petty detail, nationalistic perfection or protectionism" to stand in the way of progress towards European transport harmonisation — but the UK's credibility in Brussels, and throughout the community, would be enhanced "if we practised what we preached", says VIA president Stuart Phillips.
Speaking at the association's annual dinner, Phillips claimed that the UK "now stands completely isolated from the rest of the community in its refusal to adopt the harmonised lorry weight of 40 tonnes.
"This mater strikes at the heart of our competitiveness, because road transport is, and will continue to be, the dominant mode of freight transport within our economy," says Phillips, who reports that the UK road transport industry now accounts fo 20% of Britain's gross national product.
Speaking to an audience which included Roads and Traffic minister Peter Bottomley, Phillips gave a clear indication that the FTA will continue to press for higher gross weights following a general election. "We shall be back to government on this issue after the election," he promised.
"Industry cannot live indefinitely with the situation where the Government is urging it forward in the race to capture all-important orders, denies it the tools to do the job and then asks why we didn't win."
In the latest blast on disparity in European road transport, Phillips maintained that the Government must take "positive action" to ensure that British hauliers can compete on equal terms with continental operators. The Government, urged Phillips, should ensure "that the ground rules are the same for all of us".
Reiterating parts of the F'fA's pre-budget submission to the Chancellor, Phillips reported that compared with other EEC countries "current taxes would have to be cut by half to bring them into line with the average taxes imposed on our competitors in the other 11 member states. These are huge penalties on British Industry which will have to be redressed if we are to have fair competition.
The annual contribution to the exchequer through VED and fuel tax "outstrips the amount the Government spends on the road infrastructure by more than £1 million a year".