Responding to reports of a go-slow by hauliers and truckers on the A47 to protest about soaring fuel prices, Christopher Fraser, MP for South West Norfolk, said
“I entirely understand the plight of hauliers in the UK, and have said on many occasions that the price of fuel is hitting the haulage industry and people who live and work in rural areas particularly hard. I have in the past met haulage groups to learn at first hand how the situation is impacting on their business. My concern is that many hauliers who are the lifeblood of the food distribution system around the country will go out of business if these punitive rates of government tax on fuel continue.
Recent figures show that UK drivers pay the highest fuel taxes in Europe. The difficulty for hauliers is compounded by the fact that foreign lorries arrive here with a full tank and leave the country before having to fill up again. I tabled a question last week to the Secretary of State for Transport, calling on her to commit to introducing a Lorry Road User Scheme so that foreign hauliers have to pay to use our roads network. She refused to give a commitment that swift action will be taken to ensure that our British haulage industry can compete on a level playing field with continental competitors.
It seems that Gordon Brown and his Ministers have no understanding of what is happening outside the metropolitan areas. High fuel prices are contributing to big rises in the real cost of living which hurt my constituents. For the sake of people for whom a car is a necessity, and in the interests of the British haulage industry, I call on the Government to think again on fuel taxes.”
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