Truck and van manufacturers should be proud of their industry, said Conservative leader William Hague, opening the Commercial Vehicle Show at the Birmingham NEC,where he also told truck and van manufacturers he was campaigning on their behalf for the 'Brit Disc' so that “foreign registered trucks in the UK are taxed higher to relieve the burden on domestic operators”.

He said haulage companies in the UK were taxed 11 times higher than those in other European countries.