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Ms Ward: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Baldry: When I have finished making this point, I will gladly give way.
When we look at the KPMG report, we discover that nothing of the kind happened. The report concerns a number of different sectors, and a comparatively small part is devoted to road haulage. It states that the only reason for low freight costs in the United Kingdom is "compact market areas", meaning shorter distances. It is nothing to do with the cost per mile of running a UK-registered truck on UK fuel in competition with other European Union hauliers on the same roads. Therefore--whatever the exchange, and whoever from KPMG appeared at the Minister's press conference--to rely on such a report to suggest that there is no problem is, at best, disingenuous.
Ms Ward:
The hon. Gentleman said that some hauliers are requesting information on how to register their trucks abroad. However, he did not say that, when they receive that information, they realise that, when all the costs are taken into account, the United Kingdom is comparatively much more competitive than other European countries. Hauliers may be requesting that information, but, once they receive it, they realise how well they are doing.
Mr. Baldry:
The hon. Lady and some of her colleagues have a hard learning curve to surmount--we have all been there. It is fine coming into the Chamber, picking up a Whips' brief from the Government Whips Office and reading it out, but, when road hauliers visit the hon. Lady's surgery and confront her with real facts, it will be very difficult to justify the pretence that there is no real problem and that it is all a figment of the hauliers' imagination.
Mr. Gerry Sutcliffe (Bradford, South):
The hon. Gentleman mentions road hauliers coming to our surgeries.
Mr. Baldry:
In the 18 years of the previous, Conservative Government, I cannot recall any occasion on which the road haulage industry felt it necessary to take to the streets, to demonstrate, to blockade and to voice its concerns. I think that the industry alwaysfelt that, in the Conservative Government, it had a Government who listened and had its interests at heart.
I represent the heart of England--
Mr. Loughton:
Metaphorically and physically.
Dun and Bradstreet's most recent profitability survey shows that Banbury has the highest proportion of profit-making businesses in Britain. I am glad to say that I represent one of the most successful areas of the United Kingdom. Why did Dun and Bradstreet reach that conclusion? It states:
Mr. Jenkin:
My hon. Friend is making an extremely important point--that the debate goes much wider than only the road haulage sector. It is important to understand that only a certain part of the industry--businesses that already operate internationally--may flag out, and that much of the industry cannot do so. That part of the industry will have either to pass on its costs to its customers or to go out of business. Therefore, directly as a result of the Budget, the transport costs of businesses such as Cortaulds have risen by 11 per cent.--and the Government have the nerve to lecture us on competitiveness.
Mr. Baldry:
I agree with my hon. Friend. There is no need to argue about the facts. Following last month's Budget, a litre of diesel costs 71.2p, compared with an
The Government may be unwilling to listen to the truckers and the road haulage industry, but I hope that they will be prepared to listen to established organisations such as the Confederation of British Industry, the Federation of Small Businesses and the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, which collectively have advised the Government that 53,000 British jobs are at risk because of the high taxes facing the haulage industry. In my experience in government, organisations such as the CBI and the Association of British Chambers of Commerce did not give us fantasy figures or figures that they had not researched. When such organisations express real concerns, it is sensible for the Government to listen to them. British truckers face the highest road tax and the highest diesel prices in Europe. British truckers trying to compete abroad are hit by foreign road taxes, while continental truckers with lower rates of tax can drive free of charge on British roads, using cheap foreign fuel.
Ms Margaret Moran (Luton, South):
Does the hon. Gentleman accept that when road haulage companies assess the competitive advantages of locating in this country or elsewhere, they will take into account the total comparative tax burden, which includes the lowest rates of corporation tax that this country has ever had and lower labour taxes? In comparison with the Netherlands, there is a £800,000 tax advantage to locating in this country. Will they not also take into account the costs of pollution, of which they create their share? Those costs are estimated at about £18 million a year. Will not the average haulage operator in this country take all those considerations into account--and to our benefit?
Mr. Baldry:
If all those facts were correct, one would expect European truck companies to be flagging in to the United Kingdom and moving here. I suggest that the hon. Lady gets in touch with her local chamber of commerce to ask why the Association of British Chambers of Commerce is telling the Government that 53,000 jobs are at risk. The hon. Lady smiles, but I would not smile at the suggestion of 53,000 jobs being at risk. The figure has come not from some off-the-wall academic think tank or an industry pressure group, but from the CBI, the Association of British Chambers of Commerce and others, who have expressed their deep concerns to the Government.
Mr. Loughton:
Does my hon. Friend agree that it is pretty rich for the Government, who have finally woken up to the additional costs of integration with Europe, to use that as their argument here? They have done a great deal to give up our opt-outs from the extra social chapter charges that the previous Government were able to avoid. They are seeking to bring those extra costs to this country.
Mr. Baldry:
Since coming to office, the Government have taken many decisions that have made the position of UK industry far less competitive.
The UK road haulage industry is expressing real concerns about the position that it is being put in. They are not imaginary concerns. The Government have made it clear this afternoon that they are not prepared to take any action to help the British road haulage industry. The simple test of that is whether, in a month or two, the Chief Secretary or the Minister of Transport report to the House what positive actions they have taken or are taking as a consequence of their discussions with the road haulage forum. I am prepared to bet good money with anyone who wants to take a bet this afternoon that nothing will emerge from those discussions, because the Government are committed to the strategy that they have adopted in this year's Budget.
Mr. Milburn:
Repeating allegations does not make them any more correct. This is the third or fourth time that the hon. Gentleman has repeated his allegation that we are not listening to the road hauliers. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Transport and my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary have had their first meeting with the road hauliers. I repeat the undertaking that my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has already given to examine the industry's proposals for a Euro vignette. We go into that with our eyes open. It is not the panacea that Conservative Front-Bench Members think.
"The M40 has helped to make north Oxfordshire one of the fastest growing economic areas in the South East",
and that Banbury
"has taken on a new lease of life since the arrival of the M40".
It continues:
"Banbury is strategically situated about one mile off the motorway almost half-way between London and Birmingham."
Hundreds and thousands of new jobs have come to north Oxfordshire because of motorway links. The goods and services manufactured and provided in north Oxfordshire are taken away and delivered mostly by road haulage. Therefore, Opposition Members' concerns about the road haulage industry's complaints are not simply about the road haulage industry, but about the overall competitiveness of United Kingdom industry. If the road haulage industry is facing substantially increased costs,it will pass those costs on to United Kingdomindustry generally, and primarily to United Kingdom manufacturing industry--an economic sector about which I should have thought that the Government should be concerned.
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