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Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers has taken up the cause of road haulage in the House of Commons. Two weeks ago she challenged Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly to move to alleviate the pressure on the industry: "I asked her if she wanted her legacy to be the Transport Secretary who presided over the death of the UK road haulage industry," she told guests at the recent lunch to celebrate the 25th birthday of Keltruck, the Midlands-based  Scania dealer.

"It really is as bad as that. We see the government borrowing more and more to dig Gordon Brown out of a hole and it's you who are paying." Villiers, the Conservative MP for Barnet, said she feared the coffers would be "very empty" when the Tories get to power and she remained unable to give the industry any positive news on fuel taxation.

Indeed, apart from the hyperbole and rhetoric, details of the Conservative transport policy remain very thin on the ground. However when answering a question from the floor on plans for lorry road user charging - which remains part of the Tory plans - Villiers indicated that the details would be presented within 12 months.

In addition to the keynote speech from Villiers, the event marked the launch of the Drivers' Alliance, a new action group for all road users. For more details click here .