🕒 Article read time: 2 minutes
"Invisible but essential thread" - Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Gareth Bacon MP lauds logistics
Shadow Secretary of State promises to "listen" to logistics businesses in order to help build an efficient and prosperous sector which will help build growth in the economy.
The inaugural Logistics UK Conference 2025 gave an opportunity for MPs of all parties to detail their thoughts and ambitions for the logistics sector.
Addressing the conference, Mr Bacon, the MP for Orpington, said: "With a history stretching back well over a century, Logistics UK is the only business group to represent the whole of the logistics sector. Your voice matters. Policymakers who do not listen to it are setting themselves up to fail.
"Logistics is an invisible but essential thread that keeps the engine of our economy functioning. The opportunity (that logistics affords to industry) we can't afford to waste and yet, and I say this with regret - for a long time, the UK has not been going in the right direction.
"I've not yet had the opportunity to study The Logistics Report in detail, but I have seen the headlines and some of these are encouraging in some respects. Despite challenges, businesses continue to invest in new fleets and new technologies which augurs well for the future. But there are real warning signs that we cannot ignore.
"What you - the delegates in this room - think matters. Our job is to try to translate that thinking into deliverable policy. So that's our pledge to you now. That's why I'm here today, because that's got to be the basis of how we approach this. If we try to do this, just relying on ourselves, we can get it wrong. So, the offer, I suppose, is to listen to as many of you as possible."
Presiding over the conference, Logistics UK's President Phil Roe said: "It was very encouraging to hear the Shadow Secretary's comments about the logistics industry, and his intention to try to meet and listen to logistics business's concerns and ambitions going forward.
"The fact that his door is open means the opportunity is there to reach out to him and influence the opposition party's logistics policies. Mr Bacon also acknowledged that, while politics can be quite short term, the logistics industry requires long term strategy if it is going to able to accelerate economic growth in the UK."
Published On: 05/06/2025 14:31:34
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