Hauliers to revive Jarrow march
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• The People's Fuel Lobby (PFL) plans an ambitious "crusade" it as expected, Chancellor Gordon Brown fails to meet their demands in his pre-Budget statement.
A convoy of about 10 trucks will leave Jarrow in the North-East on 10 November, heading down through Leeds. Manchester and the Midlands before arriving in London on 14 November to join the Hyde Park rally organised by the Fuel Forum.
Mark Frans of the PFL says that the crusade is designed to raise support for an across-the-board cut in fuel duty. "The main reason for the crusade is just to show the British public that there are people willing to sacrifice days
of work to support the cause," he adds. "There will be some traffic disruption, for which we can only apologise to road users, but we are fighting on their behalf. We have to go through some short-term pain for long-term gain."
He hopes that the convoy will be swelled by supporters from every town and city it enters. The action was decided at a meeting of 150 PFL members in Chelford. Cheshire on Monday night (30 October).
Francis is calling on hauliers to stick together to avoid losing public support, even if the Chancellor offers them essential user conces sions. He warns that only an acrossthe-board cut will be enough for the PFL to call off the protest.
Other industry bodies are giving their support to the protest. Frank Steers of Trans-Action and the Fuel Forum says: "If nothing comes out of the mini-Budget next week, then I think it's a
great idea—as long as they can get it rolling in force. But the big hauliers have to support it this time."
But the RHA has declined to support the protest yet. National chairman John Bridge says: "Until we hear what Gordon Brown has to say we are reserving judgement on everything."