11 Feb 2008
Hauliers urge fuel duty control
Hauliers' representatives are due to meet Chancellor Alistair Darling to
urge him not to raise fuel duty by a further 2 pence a litre.
The increase is planned for April but firms say the government should
think again because of high fuel prices.
The Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations will tell the
chancellor that although he cannot control fuel prices, he should control
the duty.
The groups say April's increase will cause them "serious difficulties".
'Not necessary'
They say the further 2p increase in duty due on 1 April will create serious
difficulties for both them and private motorists.
"We don't think that the tuppence increase is necessary," Roger King, chief
executive of the Road Haulage Association, told the BBC.
"For a 1p increase it costs the average haulier, with the average truck,
£600 a year.
"It adds to the cost of the UK economy. We say - leave road transport
alone."
He said the government already received enough revenue from taxes on
oil.
"We are saying - don't go ahead, delay it if necessary until world oil prices
come down."
And he also called for the haulage industry to be subject to a separate
taxation regime from the ordinary motorist.
'Serious difficulties'
And in a letter to the Daily Telegraph, 11 leading figures from business
groups and motoring industries argued that they were being hit
simultaneously by a slow down in the economy and rising fuel costs.
In the letter, the organisations said: "At 50.35p a litre, UK fuel duty for
diesel and petrol is already the highest in Europe. Indeed UK diesel duty is
double the EU average rate of 25p a litre.
"The chancellor now plans to increase this by 2p per litre from 1 April.
"Such an increase will generate further serious difficulties for the transport
and forecourt industries, business drivers, those dependent on the car,
and for businesses or individuals in remote or rural areas with no
alternative transport options."
AA president Edmund King said: "Our analysis shows that the chancellor
has already bagged an unexpected windfall of more than £4bn from
motorists and the oil industry in the last 12 months.
"Therefore, even if he scraps the threatened 2p per litre increase, he
would still be £3bn better off."
The government said that, taking inflation into account, the proportion of
prices accounted for by fuel duty has fallen during this decade.
Source: BBC News
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