Just one day after Labour gave up on a vignette scheme to charge foreign trucks for using UK roads, the Conservatives re-confirmed their interest in a lorry road user charge (LRUC).
Speaking to MT readers at a Fraikin-backed debate last Thursday, shadow roads minister Robert Goodwill said: "We have already announced our intention to look at a LRUC system [but] it's important that any system is revenue-neutral for UK hauliers. The details will need to be worked out very carefully: [for instance]
how the rebates on the fuel are fed back."
Asked about cutting fuel duty and increasing VAT on fuel, Goodwill said: "I'm not in the Treasury, but I will mention it to my colleagues as a possible way of lightening the burden." Regards investment in new roads, he said: "We need to look at innovative ways of funding road improvements - and I think the model of the M6 Toll is the model we need. Any tolls must only be levied on new capacity."
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