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Haulage Businesses Should be Treated Fairly
Tuesday 8 July, 2008
Over the last few months the unprecedented rise in diesel prices has been a cause for concern for Conservatives. This has had a devastating effect on an already hard-pressed UK road haulage industry. The Government has tried to blame this crisis on global oil prices, but it is the differential in price caused by the fact that we have the highest diesel taxes in Europe that have really forced our truckers onto their knees.
UK hauliers are already put at a massive disadvantage compared to their foreign counterparts. In the UK we have higher road tax combined with the fuel duty. On top of that, in May new EU cabotage plans were adopted, which allow foreign trucks to operate in a more regular way throughout the Community. In Strasbourg this month, the Commission announced plans to create an additional "green tax" for the road haulage industry.
Yorkshire MEP Timothy Kirkhope, Conservative Transport Spokesman in the European Parliament, said:
"The British economy is now running on empty.
"Regarding the haulage industry specifically, I am extremely concerned that a number of UK haulage companies are going out of business or have had to call in the receivers. One of the key pressures on the haulage industry at the moment is the exorbitantly high fuel price back home, but this isn't helped by uneven market conditions in the EU.
"It's clear we need to rethink the tax system that hauliers face. I welcome the recent announcement by Shadow Chancellor George Osborne on the "Fair Fuel Stabiliser". Now that the EU is setting out a new green toll scheme, I believe we have an opportunity to correct the imbalance. Any such scheme shouldn't just be levied on the road haulage industry - it must be applied to all freight transport sectors. Only with an even-handed approach will we achieve the necessary level playing field."
