A decade of expectation
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-Don't expect us to pay more, if you intend to spend less,is the key message the government should take away from our industry ahead of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) on 20 October
For years, hauliers have paid disproportionately large contributions by way of fuel duty and vehicle excise duty to the Treasury only for them to become part of the general pool of government revenues.
This means that the taxes the industry pays have had no direct connection to what the industry wants in return — better maintained roads, lower levels of congestion and higher levels of enforcement by VOSA.
While it is a pipedrearn to expect such a targeted return from the industry's tax contributions, it is worth noting the twist of fate that submissions for the CSR are revealed just as we mark the 10-year anniversary of fuel duty protests that rocked the country.
Ten years on and the protests have barely had an effect on fuel duty policy. In fact, 4kthey most likely caused New Labour to cover their ears and chant 'I'm not listening anymore for a whole decade. If this new government expects widespread industry support for drastic cuts in spending, the best thing it can do is introduce a way to pay fuel duty that is sustainable for British haulage businesses. If we end up paying higher levels of fuel duty but have more potholes, more traffic
jams and more cowboy operators, then the next 10 years might just see industry support for this government decline. Christopher Walton