The Freight Transport Association (FTA) and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) are joining forces with the FairFuelUK Campaign. The campaign aims to have the fuel duty rise planned for April scrapped and for the government to intervene and stabilise fuel prices.
The organisations said that their coming together to lobby on the issue was “a sign of the enormity of the fuel crisis and will itself be a stark signal to the government that the pressure of action is growing dramatically”.
However, the government has indicated that it is moving away from the idea of a Fair Fuel Stabiliser that reduces duty when fuel prices go up and raises it when fuel prices go down. Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander said there were “complications” with this proposal. Instead the government is considering plans to give motorists in remote areas a discount on the cost of fuel. This is unlikely to do much for the problems facing the haulage industry.
The Fair Fuel campaign is being co-ordinated by Peter Carroll, a haulage boss based in Staplehurst, Kent. Mr Carroll said: “We need hundreds of thousands of people to sign up to www.fairfueluk.com. The government will only feel the pressure if this becomes a matter of the national mood.”
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Mr Carroll has a record of successful campaigning, having founded and orchestrated the Gurkha Justice Campaign of 2009. He was less successful, however, when he stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2010 general election in Maidstone & the Weald.
RHA chief executive Geoff Dunning said: “The continuing rise in the price of fuel is a major threat to so many of our members. Many of these are the small and medium sized transport companies that form the back-bone of the UK road freight industry. Many of these companies have long and proud histories in the industry. With margins already squeezed to unsustainable levels many of these firms are threatened with going out of business.”
FTA chief executive Theo de Pencier said: “The situation regarding fuel is threatening the whole economy. So many people are suffering. We feel that the general business community and the motoring public now have common cause with our industry. This campaign is the opportunity to put maximum pressure on the Government to win some form of concession to get the pressure off.”
The groups said that their campaign does not support any kind of blockading or other disruptive action.
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