TERRY DIGNAN:                Preparing for the first journey 
of the day at a haulier's depot in Huntingdon.  The outlook for the economy 
here, as elsewhere, is bright. But not for hauliers.
The Government is desperate to wipe away memories of the fuel blockades 
when Labour was seen as arrogant and out of touch. So Gordon Brown's dilemma 
is acute. If he does cut fuel taxes, the Government will be accused of 
doing the one thing it said it wouldn't do - give into blackmail. But do 
nothing and ministers again risk the wrath of hauliers, farmers - and voters.
       
The train from Huntingdon arrives in London. On board, one of the hauliers' 
leaders, John Bridge. During the  blockades his drivers joined protests 
in the capital. He's come here to join a delegation of hauliers and farmers 
meeting Treasury ministers. The Government blames world oil prices for 
the high cost of their fuel. They blame the Government, saying the public 
backs hauliers' complaints that more than seventy pence of every pound 
spent on fuel goes to the Treasury.

JOHN BRIDGE:                My message is very clear. 
It is fuel duty, fuel duty, fuel duty. That is what has got to be dealt 
with. And nothing else will suffice.  I don't think that the Government 
has any option and, clearly, they risk very drastic consequences if they 
ignore not only our industry but now most of the people in the United Kingdom.

DIGNAN:                    Farmers enjoy lower duties 
but only on red diesel used on agricultural land. Day-to-day supplies and 
deliveries are made by hauliers who are passing on their rising fuel costs. 
 Here in Nottinghamshire farmers' leaders say it's a further blow to a 
struggling industry. So they support hauliers' demands for an immediate 
15p per litre cut in diesel used by lorries. 
       
PETER GADD:                Things like fertilizers, things 
like fuel itself. Things like animal feeding stuffs, all come to the farm 
by road haulage, and the potential from increased haulage costs passed 
back to the farmer directly, is significant in the recent rise in fuel 
prices. Not only haulage to the farm, but haulage away from the farm.
   
DIGNAN:                    In a quiet cul-de-sac in 
a London suburb, a group representing motorists also lobby against high 
fuel prices - using the internet. They want 10p off the duty on a litre 
of petrol. The Conservatives promise a 3p reduction. Not enough, say these 
campaigners. But at least it's a start. And Labour should take heed. Failure 
to cut the tax could trigger another sharp fall in the party's popularity. 
  
  
GARRY RUSSELL:                During the last direct action, 
the Conservatives actually took a lead which was unheard of for the past 
few years, for certain. And if you think in terms of the present Government, 
it will have an election next year, there was a huge amount of anti-Government 
sentiment that runs through the country, certainly from people that support 
the various fuel protests.

DIGNAN:                    At John Bridge's depot 
no driver can be certain about his future. The economy's on course to produce 
fifteen billion pounds of extra tax revenue. It could pay for cuts in fuel 
duties. But Labour MP's say there are more important priorities.       
 

CALUM MACDONALD, MP:        The Government has got a whole range 
of priorities that it has to try to tackle. Its got its investment programmes 
-  massive investment programmes - in education, in health, in transport 
itself, in a range of public services, which the public want to see happen. 
It's got to try to help pensioners, its got to try to tackle the problems 
of the inner city.

CARL EMMERSON:                The fact that taxes on petrol 
have continued to go up but motorists are still buying fuel, means that 
its a very good revenue raiser for the Treasury. In total it raises about 
twenty-two billion pounds. That's one of the largest taxes in the UK. And 
it also means if the government wants to cut it, its going to be expensive, 
it would have to find the money from somewhere else.
 
DIGNAN:                    And according to Nottingham 
MP Alan Simpson, it could also send the wrong message about reducing traffic 
pollution, said to cause global warming. While ministers appear reluctant 
to argue that high fuel duties are meant to deter vehicle use, this Labour 
politician believes taxation is a powerful weapon against global warming.
  
ALAN SIMPSON, MP:            Climate change is a direct consequence 
of the way we have been using recklessly, the fossil fuel resources that 
the planet has. And it's starting to kick back, and if we want to understand 
the real priorities of our time, its to begin to repair the damage and 
to change our whole view about transport systems.  We need those revenues 
to pay for a huge investment in public transport infrastructures.
   
DIGNAN:                    If the Chancellor decides 
against an across-the-board cut in fuel taxation, is there anything he 
can offer hauliers - and farmers and motorists. Well, there might be, because 
the Government is currently considering a series of measures to try to 
take the sting out of the issue.  It could choose to cut Vehicle Excise 
Duty for smaller cars. Some Labour MPs also want rebates on the tax for 
motorists in rural areas who have little choice but to use a car. This 
would especially help those on low incomes.   

MACDONALD:                We could use post codes to target 
help towards motorists who live in remote rural areas. So, if you lived 
in one of those post codes, you'd be eligible for a reduction on your Vehicle 
Excise Duty.

SIMPSON:                    What do you do at the 
dividing line between the street that gets the concession and the street 
that doesn't. How do you stop people saying oh well I'm just moving across 
here. It just doesn't work.

DIGNAN:                    Hauliers, too, are trying 
to position themselves as a special case. They say they can't compete with 
foreign operators who pay much lower fuel duties.  An essential user rebate 
would allow them to claim back the difference between the UK and the Continental 
price of fuel.
       
BRIDGE:                    In France they use a particular 
method whereby you can claim back on so many litres per year and there 
are proper forms and procedures for doing it. The bus industry has a, formula 
which is based on tachographs. The administrative factor is not a problem.

EMMERSON:                    This would clearly be 
cheaper than cutting taxes for everybody, but it would still have quite 
a considerable cost. Because, as you might expect, a lot of the miles driven 
in the UK are done by hauliers. And also it would be very difficult to 
square environmentally.
 
DIGNAN:                    The Government might try 
to meet the haulage industry halfway.  The Freight Transport Association 
- and the farmers - want to cut both fuel and road taxes. While fearing 
 the environmental cost of cutting fuel duty, some Labour MP's favour reducing 
hauliers' Vehicle Excise Duty if they minimise pollution from their engines. 
  

SIMPSON:                    What we have to be saying 
to hauliers is whether it's reduced pollution on existing engine types, 
or whether it's the introduction of new fuel systems altogether, the concessions 
have to be environmentally connected.  

DIGNAN:                    Hauliers also want Government 
action against unfair competition from abroad. They say foreign hauliers 
should be taxed when they arrive here, although under EU law British lorries 
would have to pay too. Stricter checks on foreign vehicles are also demanded 
with stiffer penalties for breaches of environmental and safety standards.
      
SIMPSON:                    Well, hauliers are legitimate 
in claiming that it would be a real help if Britain had the same rigorous 
approach to both testing and taxing the most polluting of vehicles. We 
owe them that level playing field.

DIGNAN:                    There's little sign yet 
ministers will meet hauliers' demand for cuts in duty at the pump. Concerned 
there are too many hauliers and not enough orders, ministers may try to 
restructure the industry by increasing the cost of a licence to new entrants. 
 Yet this, and other measures, might not be enough to satisfy those who 
protested against high fuel taxes.    
Here at Westminster Gordon Brown will be taking a calculated risk if he 
decides to reject calls by motorists, hauliers and farmers to cut the price 
of fuel.  Instead Mr Brown may attempt to buy off one group in particular, 
the hauliers, with a series of complex measures to help their industry. 
But if the hauliers are unimpressed will they again try to bring Britain 
grinding to a halt.
The meeting with the minister at the Treasury lasts an hour. The hauliers 
leave without a promise that fuel taxes will be cut. But they're convinced 
the Government has got the message that other issues are of secondary importance. 


BRIDGE:                    I don't think the minister 
can be in any doubt whatsoever, that that is the key issue, the one issue 
they've got to address, and that they ignore that at their peril.

JOHN STEARS:                All we'd like the Government 
to do is come back with more talks, and listen more so when this sixty-day 
deadline comes up, no haulier has to go out there and protest.

CLIVE HOYLAND:                There's none of my colleagues 
here asked them to go and do it, they did it spontaneously. We can't be 
responsible if they act spontaneously again, if the government don't come 
forward with a positive solution to the problem we've presented to them.

DIGNAN:                    Ministers are determined 
this time to keep the tankers moving. They've learnt from September's crisis. 
They don't intend allowing protestors to bring the country to a standstill. 
There's also a doubt over whether there's the stomach for more direct action. 
A package falling short of a cut in duty may be enough to buy off discontent. 
But it's a strategy fraught with uncertainty.

MACDONALD:                The Government is right to say 
that there will not be simply giving in, to economic blackmail. Whether 
its from hauliers or from any other group. I think that is absolutely the 
right approach to take.

PETER GADD:                I can see people that have 
got basically nothing to lose that are going out of business, because they 
are so frustrated while they're back in their own farms trying to struggle 
to keep their businesses alive. They're going to take their own individual 
action.  
 
RUSSELL:                    It just seems, incredible 
that the, the Government have just taken the line of how are we going to 
keep the fuel supplies moving, rather than what are we going to do about 
trying to pacify the huge amount of people that feel that fuel is too expensive.

DIGNAN:                    The world oil markets can't 
be relied on to come to the Government's rescue with prices at record levels. 
There's growing pressure to reduce fuel duty using the extra revenue from 
faster economic growth. Ministers would rather spend the money on other 
causes. That could mean facing down those who would reject anything other 
than a cut in the duty on fuel.