22/04/2005

Fuel protest threat looms over general election

Road hauliers and farmers are threatening to hold protests over high fuel prices ahead of the general election next month.

A meeting is set to take place in Stirling to discuss a campaign involving the blockade of oil refineries.

In 2000 a weeklong series of fuel protests involving pickets at oil refineries and ‘go-slow’ protests caused chaos across Britain.

Concern over fuel prices is rising. A meeting held on Wednesday in Ruthin, North Wales attracted over 200 people, including taxi drivers, construction workers and motorists, as well as hauliers and farmers.

The meeting’s organiser Dai Owen told The Times newspapers that the tax on fuel on the UK meant that companies were paying more to operate than Irish firms and those based on the Continent. Mr Owen said that fuel was 88p per gallon cheaper in the rest of Europe than in Britain.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) said that there was “growing anger and unrest” over the cost of fuel among Britain’s haulage fraternity and said that some of them were becoming “increasingly militant”.

RHA’s Chief Executive Roger King said: "We recognise that the price of oil is a world problem. But the fact remains that we are paying the highest levels of fuel duty in the world. We equally recognise that Government has frozen fuel duty for some while now but this has done little to stem the huge increase in costs hauliers must pay before they receive any return from the customer - even if that customer is paying something towards the extra cost!”

Mr King said added: "We desperately need some kind of fuel stabilisation formula which would result in tax levels on fuel being reduced as world oil prices increase.”

Mr King said that the RHA was meeting with members to discuss what action should be taken, but he said: “Whatever we do as an industry, it must be lawful but to the point".

(KMcA/GB)




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