NICK HARVEY CLIMBS ONBOARD WITH LOCAL HAULIERS AT WESTMINSTER
July 2, 2008 3:57 PM
NICK HARVEY today backed hundreds of hauliers who descended on London to protest against the rising cost of fuel prices and the impact of increasing prices on their industry. Their protest aims to achieve a level playing field for fuel to help the industry survive.
North Devon, which is home to smaller-scale and well known family run haulage firms, is hit particularly hard by the escalating fuel prices and high taxes as local companies cannot afford the subsequent small profit margins.
Nationally, the haulage industry has suffered acutely from rising inflation and a lack of financial support, as well as being cut out of business by supermarket franchises and inadvertently hit by the slow-down of the housing market - which means fewer houses being built and no call for the transport of building materials and waste.
Commenting on the protest, Nick Harvey MP, said:
"I fully understand their concerns. Local hauliers are struggling to cope with the impact of inflation and rising fuel costs on a daily basis. In the current climate there is little left as profit in a company's income.
The haulage industry is an integral party of national trade and as a rural area with limited transport connections and high fuel prices, North Devon haulage companies bear the brunt particularly acutely.
I will not be voting on the SNP's proposal as I think it is a token gesture that will have no impact while fuel prices continue to escalate. However, I will be making representations to the Treasury and the Department for Work and Pensions to see what can be done to alleviate the burden on an industry that is vital for our economy and essential for trade.
The Government must not avoid any knee-jerk reactions to rising fuel prices which will fail to recognise the wider implications of the problem."
Speaking at the protest Bill Hockin, Managing Director of William C. Hockin (Transport) Ltd, Barnstaple, said:
"We desperately need help and need it now.
The main issue is tax and the rising costs. The government needs to work quickly to save manufacturing as taxes and prices are killing industries.
We are basically asking the Government to come in and give us some kind of rebate to face foreign competition and the increases in taxes and oil prices and help us to survive. Haulage companies are falling by the week."
ENDS
North Devon fuel prices are among the highest with the average price in May of this year at 112.5p per litre.
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