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Angry lorry drivers to stage 'biggest protest yet' over fuel prices
Angry hauliers will take hundreds of lorries to the capital tomorrow in what is expected to be the biggest protest so far against record-high fuel prices.
This time the lobby group Transaction 2007 will have the support of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and the Transport Association for the demonstration against prices that threaten the future of
freight businesses.
The latest protest comes amid reports that Chancellor Alistair Darling is under pressure from fellow ministers to scrap the 2p-a-litre increase in fuel duty scheduled for October.
According to The Independent, Business Secretary John Hutton has been leading calls for Mr Darling to make a statement before MPs break for the summer in July.
As they did at a demonstration earlier this summer, the hauliers will line their lorries along a closed-section of the A40 Westway in west London.
Then a series of police-controlled convoys will move into central London while lorry drivers on foot will lobby Parliament.
RHA national chairman Andy Boyle said: "I am absolutely delighted that so many sections of the UK transport industry have united in such a positive way. If ever there was positive proof that ours
is an industry in crisis then this surely must be it.
"The harsh reality is that the price of fuel is now forcing many hauliers out of business. For many, tomorrow will represent a last-ditch attempt at making their voice heard. It is therefore
absolutely vital that Government not only listens to us but takes urgent action. For those present on Wednesday, whether they be hauliers or members of Parliament, doing nothing is no longer an
option".
Transaction spokesman Peter Carroll said: "Our industry is being driven out of business. Continental hauliers are able to run in the UK using cheaper fuel from abroad. The Government needs to
realize that the surge in oil prices has changed the world.
"It is madness to insist on charging the highest level of fuel duty in the EU on top of a world price that has rocketed. If nothing is done, thousands of UK hauliers will go bust. We have sound and
effective proposals to solve this problem. The Government needs to talk to us and to listen to us."
COMMENTS
cjwirth http://www.peakoilassociates.com
Commented 8 weeks ago
Lorry drivers and everyone will get angrier, as the oil companies and governments have lied to us about oil. Global oil production is now declining, from 85 million barrels per day to 60 million barrels per day by 2015, while at the same time demand will increase 14%. This is like a 30% drop. No one can reverse this trend, nor can we conserve our way out of this catastrophe, because the demand is so high that it will always be higher than production; thus the depletion rate will continue until all recoverable oil is extracted. We are facing the collapse of the highways that depend on diesel trucks for maintenance of bridges, cleaning culverts to avoid road washouts, snow plowing, roadbed and surface repair. When the highways fail, so too does the power grid, as highways carry the parts, transformers, steel for pylons, and high tension wire, all from far away. With the highways out, there will be no food coming in from "outside," and without the power grid nothing works, including home heating. This is documented in a free 45 page report that can be downloaded and distributed/ emailed: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html
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