British truckers in protest over fuel taxes

LONDON – British truck drivers converged again on London on Wednesday to protest against the amount of fuel tax slapped on diesel, which they say is running them off the road.

Just over a month after a similar protest brought gridlock to parts of the British capital, truckers said they were being driven out of business by the cost of refuelling their vehicles. Some 230 lorries lined up along the A40 in London, one of the main routes into the city from the west, before drivers rallied on foot outside parliament, then headed inside to lobby lawmakers.The Automobile Association said the average price of diesel is 132 pence (US$2.61) per litre in Britain – the most expensive out of 24 European Union countries monitored.Tax accounts for 53 per cent of that price.Robin Edmunds, 58, a haulier for 30 years with a fleet of seven trucks, travelled from Devizes in southwest England to protest.”I have never seen times as bad as this,” he said.”The government have got to cut the fuel duty.All this is down to (Prime Minister) Gordon Brown.”Business life for us at the moment is hard – very hard.It’s got to the stage where I’m wondering whether it’s all worth carrying on.We are simply getting swallowed up.”Costs for drivers are soaring as crude oil prices on international markets hit record highs at nearly 144 dollars a barrel – up a third since the start of the year and compared with 50 dollars a barrel 18 months ago.Peter Carroll, a spokesman for haulage pressure group Transaction, warned of “commercial slaughter on a gigantic scale”.”Our industry is being driven out of business.Continental hauliers are able to run in the UK using cheaper fuel from abroad,” he said.”It is madness to insist on charging the highest level of fuel duty in the European Union on top of a world price that has rocketed.If nothing is done, thousands of UK hauliers will go bust.”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.”Hauliers are calling for an “essential user” rebate of 20 to 25 pence per litre, allowing them to claim some of the fuel duty back.Protests over fuel prices in general have taken place in several countries around the world in recent weeks.Nampa-AFPSome 230 lorries lined up along the A40 in London, one of the main routes into the city from the west, before drivers rallied on foot outside parliament, then headed inside to lobby lawmakers.The Automobile Association said the average price of diesel is 132 pence (US$2.61) per litre in Britain – the most expensive out of 24 European Union countries monitored.Tax accounts for 53 per cent of that price.Robin Edmunds, 58, a haulier for 30 years with a fleet of seven trucks, travelled from Devizes in southwest England to protest.”I have never seen times as bad as this,” he said.”The government have got to cut the fuel duty.All this is down to (Prime Minister) Gordon Brown.”Business life for us at the moment is hard – very hard.It’s got to the stage where I’m wondering whether it’s all worth carrying on.We are simply getting swallowed up.”Costs for drivers are soaring as crude oil prices on international markets hit record highs at nearly 144 dollars a barrel – up a third since the start of the year and compared with 50 dollars a barrel 18 months ago.Peter Carroll, a spokesman for haulage pressure group Transaction, warned of “commercial slaughter on a gigantic scale”.”Our industry is being driven out of business.Continental hauliers are able to run in the UK using cheaper fuel from abroad,” he said.”It is madness to insist on charging the highest level of fuel duty in the European Union on top of a world price that has rocketed.If nothing is done, thousands of UK hauliers will go bust.”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.”Hauliers are calling for an “essential user” rebate of 20 to 25 pence per litre, allowing them to claim some of the fuel duty back.Protests over fuel prices in general have taken place in several countries around the world in recent weeks.Nampa-AFP