Fooling the people
Page 5
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GOVERNMENT attempts to discredit the environmentalists opposing the White Paper proposals on heavier lorries are misleading and defective, according to the Council for the Protection of Rural England.
Speaking in London last weekend, CPRE director Robin GroveWhite said: "In a series of recent speeches around the country, Transport Secretary David Howell and former Junior Transport Minister Kenneth Clarke have actually been laying the problems of heavy lorries at the environmentalists' door.
"They imply that only if 40tanners 'are introduced into Britain can the country begin to cope with the environmental disruption caused in the past by road freight. Therefore, they allege, those who currently oppose 40-tanners are impeding environmental improvement," he said. Mr Grove-White said that the proposals in the White Paper are opposed by local authorities, town planners and women's institutes as well as environmentalists who believe that the Government is "grossly understating" the costs and damage which heavier lorries will cause.