Chope tells hauliers:
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• Transport Minister Christopher Chope has called on British hauliers to join his fight against a 50mph truck speed limit.
The European Commission plans to force Britain to fit 50mph speed limiters as part of a pan-European package of rules which Chope has slammed as "pettifogging bureaucratic interference".
At the Transport and Distribution Manager of the Year awards dinner last week the minister told his audience: "We should not let Brussels walk over us ... we need to fight our corner."
Chope admitted that the speed limiter plan had taken Marsham Street by surprise. The directive was translated into English in September. It is expected to be put to EC transport ministers next month, but in his speech Chope said that national speed limits were not a matter for Brussels bureaucrats.
"This is an issue which we as a legislature in the UK should be able to debate for ourselves," he said. "Why should we have this imposed on us from outside except because people with a 50mph limit already feel it would better protect their domestic market?"
Operators needed a 60mph limit to compensate for Britain's terrible urban congestion, he added, while a 50mph HGV limit would cause more congestion and would put more vehicles on the road.
He noted that the Freight Transport Association estimated that the lower limit would cost the industry £500m.
British drivers could even be forced to drive on the right if EC bureaucrats got their way, Chope warned: "We could not do anything if the European Commission brought forward such a proposal."
The Government agrees with the principle of speed limiters, said Chope, but not with the "small print" way in which the