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Truckers in Commons demo
Rashid Razaq and David Williams2 Jul 2008
More than 500 angry lorry drivers descended on London today to protest against the Government's refusal to cut the price of fuel.
A section of the A40 Westway in west London was closed as the truckers parked up in protest.
The hauliers, who are demanding a 25p-in-the-pound tax rebate on diesel, then held a rally outside Parliament in Westminster to spell out their fears for their industry while fuel remains at record prices.
Their protest coincided with a debate in Parliament on Chancellor Alastair Darling's planned increase in vehicle excise duty.
Police closed a London-bound section of Westway from 10am to allow the lorries to park.
The road was due to stay shut until 4pm to allow groups of about 20 vehicles to be escorted by police motorcyclists on a circular route through central London, including crossing Westminster Bridge.
The last demonstration by lorry drivers, in May, caused major traffic disruption. The average price of diesel is now £1.32 per litre and hauliers say this leaves them with fuel bills of up to £1,000 per week for a typical articulated lorry.
During the rally, Road Haulage Association chief executive Roger King said it was vital that fuel duty for all types of transport were fixed at the same level throughout the European Union.
Mr King said: "If the Government does not address this (fuel duty) problem there is going to be precious little of the haulage industry left."
Peter Carroll, of the pressure group Transaction, told the rally: "Fuel prices have not just gone up, they have rocketed. This is all about people - people who have built up their businesses, sometimes over generations.
"It breaks my heart when I meet people who have had to remortgage their homes and are now facing a kind of commercial slaughter on a gigantic scale.
"I fear that if the Government does not listen, they (drivers) might end up doing things that we would not condone but which we would understand."
Jim Dodd, of Dodds Transport in Sittingbourne, Kent, who has 130 drivers delivering items from food and drink to television sets and DIY goods, said: "We're asking for a 25p a litre essential users' rebate. This would bring us into line with the average duty in Europe.
"All we're asking for is fair play. We're competing with the European drivers who are paying much less duty.
"We're already paying on average £95 per day in tax and it's costing us £5,800 a month per truck in fuel. That's 40 per cent more than last year. We just can't afford to pay this any more."
Peter Carroll, owner of Seymour Transport, based in Maidstone, has 51 vehicles delivering items such as steel and cement.
He said: "While it might cost your average motorist £70 to fill their Mondeo, it's costing us a lot, lot more. If the Government don't take action we'll see a lot more protests like this."
