FTA says protests were wrong
Page 6
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The Freight Transport Association says the fuel protests may have done more harm than good in the hauliers' fight to win fuel dirty concessions.
FTA director-general David Green says: "Recent action has brought the situation [over fuel duty] into focus. But don't underestimate the downside in terms of government entrenchment. While government decisions haven't yet been made, we have put up their resistance level."
Green also defended the FTA against criticisms over its lack of support for direct action. The Road Transport Forum, he said, had yielded tangible results and was still worth pursuing.
His comments came on the same day a letter appeared in The Times from Northern regional chairman of the Road Haulage Association, Clive Hoyland. He accuses the FTA of not representing hauliers. "The government seems to have been manipulating the FTA to put out whatever media spin it could to detract from the con tral issue," he says.
However, the FTA insists that it is acting. Last Friday (15 September) it met with senior government figures, including Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, and transport ministers Lord Macdonald and Lord Whitty.
Ministers have now asked the FTA to help brief them in a meeting due to take place before the end of this week.
"We'll carry on talking," said Green. "The FTA cannot get involved in bringing the government down.'