A TRANSPORT Policy Forum of key Conservative MPs and industry experts is to take up the fight of company car drivers and challenge Labour's integrated transport plans. At Monday's launch of the forum, Gillian Shephard MP, shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and Regions, said one of its key roles would be to identify the stealth taxation of fleets under the current Government.

And she said that rather than simply opposing Labour's plans without offering any new ideas, the Conservatives had formed the new forum to examine all transport policy issues and highlight alternatives. Shephard said in the coming months the forum would focus on the many transport 'stealth taxes' the Government is imposing on the motorist and companies, including the fuel duty escalator, congestion taxes and office parking levies.

The forum will be made up of front and back-bench Conservative MPs, and will be chaired by Jenkin. It will also benefit from advice from an MEP on European issues and leading industry experts, including Kenneth Irvine, the author of 'A Track to the Future' which examines the way rail travel can be improved, and chairman of the Conservative Transport Group Robert Kingham, a lecturer at LondonUniversity's Imperial College.