FLEETS have gained a powerful lobbying voice in Parliament after a cross-party group of MPs backed their demands for the Government to end its confusing policy on clean vehicles and fuels. The support gives valuable momentum to fleets campaigning for the recognition of their vital role in encouraging the use of cleaner technology in vehicles to cut down on pollution.

Speaking at an alternative fuels workshop held by Powershift, an Energy Saving Trust initiative to encourage the use of alternative fuels, Helen Brinton, Labour MP for Peterborough, gave her whole-hearted backing to fleets. Brinton, a member of the environmental audit select committee, was one of a group of MPs who in March backed an Early Day Motion calling for more use of taxes to increase the use of alternative fuels and in January this year she put forward a motion calling for duty on LPG to be cut to the minimum allowed by the EU to encourage its use.

She said: 'Fleets have an important role to play in cleaning up emissions, but they have got to know what the Government is planning with tax policies which affect them. The Government has five-year plans for areas such as the economy, so why not have a clear five-year policy over fuels so fleets know what to expect and can look ahead?'