Truck Industry wins first battle in Fair Fuel war
The FairFuelUK (FFUK) campaign has won the first battle in the war over escalating fuel prices following the government's pledge to scrap the planned January duty rise of 3ppl as well as reducing the August rise by 2ppl to 3ppl.
The announcement by the Chancellor, George Osborne in his autumn statement on Tuesday is a boost for the haulage and freight transport industry.
"Without FFUK, this wouldn’t have happened," says Geoff Dunning, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, one of the key FFUK supporters. "We’ve won another battle, but the war continues. We need a long-term strategy to tackle the problem of crippling fuel costs."
Theo De Pencier, chief executive of the Freight Transport Association and fellow FFUK backer, adds: "We have avoided a horrendous new year’s hangover; Januarys rise would have cost the industry around £325m. But while we are relieved that the Chancellor has steered us out of immediate danger, it is obvious that getting the UK back on the road to recovery requires a long-term fuel duty strategy.
"The government must now look at taking more substantive steps to invoke a longer term fuel duty policy that doesn’t punish business, prevent growth and grind those wheels to a halt."
FFUK founder Peter Carroll says: "We have to keep fighting and win the argument that it’s better to cut duty because that will be what really gets the economy moving."
Quentin Willson, spokesman for FairFuelUK said, "This is a victory for FairFuelUK but only a stay of execution. We've saved the UK 9p since March in proposed fuel duty rises and we are now the gatekeepers of fuel sanity for this country. We're going to carry on pressurising this government to keep duty down and reduce it significantly. If we don't they'll hike it up again the first chance they get".
Adrian Tink, Senior Media Relations Manager / RAC Motoring Strategist said, "It’s a victory for common sense. With people paying in excess of £1300 per year just to go about their daily lives this needs to the first, not the last, step. This is welcome short term relief, but what is the Chancellor’s plan if prices keep going up next year"
