ANGRY hauliers are to take hundreds of lorries to the capital in what is expected to be the biggest protest so far against record-high fuel prices.
This time the lobby group Transaction 2007 will have the support of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) and the Transport Association for the demonstration against prices that threaten the future of freight businesses.
The latest protest comes amid reports that Chancellor Alistair Darling is under pressure from fellow ministers to scrap the 2p-a-litre increase in fuel duty scheduled for October.
According to The Independent, Business Secretary John Hutton has been leading calls for Mr Darling to make a statement before MPs break for the summer in July.
As they did at a demonstration earlier this summer, the hauliers will line their lorries along a closed-section of the A40 Westway in west London.
Then a series of police-controlled convoys will move into central London while lorry drivers on foot will lobby Parliament.
RHA national chairman Andy Boyle said: "I am absolutely delighted that so many sections of the UK transport industry have united in such a positive way. If ever there was positive proof that ours is an industry in crisis then this surely must be it.
"The harsh reality is that the price of fuel is now forcing many hauliers out of business. For many, it will represent a last-ditch attempt at making their voice heard. It is therefore absolutely vital that Government not only listens to us but takes urgent action. For those present on Wednesday, whether they be hauliers or members of Parliament, doing nothing is no longer an option".
Transaction spokesman Peter Carroll said: "Our industry is being driven out of business. Continental hauliers are able to run in the UK using cheaper fuel from abroad. The Government needs to realize that the surge in oil prices has changed the world.
"It is madness to insist on charging the highest level of fuel duty in the EU on top of a world price that has rocketed. If nothing is done, thousands of UK hauliers will go bust. We have sound and effective proposals to solve this problem. The Government needs to talk to us and to listen to us."
