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NOW IS THE TIME TO SPEAK OUT
Page 3
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Democracy is a tricky business. MPs are expected to represent their parties as much as their constituents, but it falls to voters to educate politicians as relentlessly as possible in the expectation that the better informed they are, the better the policies they will construct. In this spirit we applaud Chris Grayling's invitation to the industry to "talk his ears off", and we should all take the opportunity to do so. Itruir,y truly formative influence on what those policies could be.
So talk to Grayling, talk to your MPs and your MEPs, fill their surgery moms with your tutorials on the needs of road transport, but let us remember two things.
Firstly, we cannot give up on the government we have -the decisions it makes will affect the road transport industry for a long time to come. Secondly, there is a huge gap between campaign promises and governmental delivery. Our transport and shadow transport ministers could both change many times during the next four years. That is why we need to relinquish party affiliation, relinquish the power of personality and focus on getting our message to the widest possible audience, within politics and among the general public.
Transport may not appear a sexy issue for the masses, but we know what a vital part it plays in allowing ordinary people to eat, clothe themselves, buy goods and work. One of the successes of our recent Euro-4 1,000-mile test was that it gave Commercial Motorthe chance to talk on radio to motorists around the country about how the road transport industry represents the best of our engineering; is the backbone of our economy; and leads the way in road safety and environmental protection. Let's all become spokespeople and get cur message across.