News

Fuel protesters have descended on London for the second month in succession today, with parked-up trucks causing a four-mile tailback on the A40. Protest organiser TransAction 2007 says it is delighted with the turnout and that it illustrates the depth of feeling over the issue. A number of protesters will later head to Downing Street to hand in a letter which calls for a number of measures to help the UK haulage industry, including:

• the withdrawal of the planned 2p/litre duty rise  planned for the autumn;
• decoupling of the taxation between commercial vehicles and cars;
• the introduction of an essential user rebate.

Justin Stanton, editor of Motor Transport, adds: "The road transport and logistics industry is the fifth biggest employer in the UK and it is the backbone of UK plc. "It's unforgivable that the government has so far chosen to ignore the industry's calls for help. It is time for the government to get off the fuel duty escalator and embrace a fuel duty regulator." There is also a protest convoy in South Wales, made up of around 250 trucks going from Cross Hands in Gwent to Cardiff. Mike Greene, organiser, says: "We've had tremendous support from members of the public, waving, clapping and beeping horns all along the way. "We expect to have about 200 to 250 vehicles in the convoy by the time we get to Cardiff."

In a separate move, the Transport Association will hand in a letter to Downing Street, making clear the pain  its members - the majority of which are sizeable, family-owned haulage firms - are feeling. The letter says it has "a unanimous mandate to express grave concerns over the current instability of fuel prices". It adds that the current high prices are causing the "deepest crisis that Transport Association members have faced in recent times" and that the "government is in a position to recognise the impact and take positive action". It points the government to some of the solutions suggested by the Burns Report.