The RHA conference in Portugal this week is a focused and fairly spirited affair, with plenty of hot topics arousing debate. Notably Owen Paterson, Shadow Transport Minister, managed to dismay or enrage most sections of the room with his brutal dismissal of a reduction in fuel duty or an essential user rebate. His argument is that £28bn in sterling into the Treasury is not a sum any Chancellor of any colour is going to be prepared to give up.

The use of that money has also caused questions to be asked amongst RHA members: why more of it isn't poured into road building to ease congestion was pushed hard inside and outside the conference room. Some members feel strongly that both the Road Transport Association and the Freight Transport Association, represented this weekend by outgoing chief executve Richard Turner, have accepted the argument that road building cannot help congestion without a sufficient fight.

For more on the full road pricing\congestion debate at the conference see news in Roadtransport.com and next week's Commercial Motor.