DRIFFIELD'S MP Greg Knight backed British hauliers as they descended on Westminster for a mass lobby of MPs
Mr Knight said: "Road haulage is critically important to the UK. Not only is the logistics industry Britain's fifth biggest employer with over two million people, but 82 percent of our freight is moved by road".
"The situation at the moment is uns
ustainable; the UK has the highest tax on diesel in Europe. Diesel costs 131.6ppl in Britain while it costs only 112.7ppl in France. This must change."
Mr Knight pointed out that UK hauliers were also being burdened with high levels of vehicle excise duty (VED) and were subject to more stringent safety checks than their European competitors.
He said; "Not only are UK hauliers being hit by the costliest fuel in Europe, they're also being forced out of business with higher road duties."
Mr Knight has joined calls for the Government to introduce a vignette (Brit disc) which will act as a daily charge on foreign lorries. He said this would help "level the playing field".
He said that the vignette and the scrapping of the proposed 2ppl rise in fuel duty scheduled for October were the 'bare minimum" the haulage industry needed from the Government just to stay afloat.
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