FTA meets Shadow Transport Secretary

The impact of unsustainable fuel duty increases, the importance of infrastructure investment and of measuring and reducing carbon emissions were some of the issues raised by the Freight Transport Association's CEO, Theo de Pencier, when he met with Maria Eagle MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, at Portcullis House in Westminster.

de Pencier said: "Ms Eagle was evidently very well-briefed on FTA's objectives and it was encouraging hearing from her the high-esteem with which she holds the logistics sector. Over the course of an hour or so we discussed some broad but extremely important issues, including the damage done to business by fuel duty hikes and the desperate need for investment in a transport system that is fit-for-purpose.

"To her credit, Ms Eagle is clearly very knowledgeable about the issues facing the industry and was very keen for our input on all manner of subjects from lorry road user charging and carbon reduction to the benefits of promoting night-time deliveries."

Since the formation of the Coalition Government last year, FTA has had over 30 face-to-face meetings with MPs including those in the Transport Select Committee, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond and transport ministers Norman Baker, Theresa Villiers and Mike Penning, as well as Shadow Transport Minister Willie Bain.

de Pencier concluded: "Following this very productive and comprehensive meeting with the Shadow Transport Secretary, we are confident that the best interests of industry have been represented to all the key players from across the political spectrum. We certainly look forward to further discussions with Ms Eagle throughout 2011."