MEP claims 'heavy-handed Government has lost all sense of justice'

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 1st Aug 2001

Liberal Democrat MEP Diana Wallis has accused the UK Government of being heavy-handed and having lost all sense of justice in relation to their crackdown on tobacco smuggling.

She says, 'By all means target organised criminals but in the last two weeks I have had two separate constituents come to me whose vehicles were used to bring in small amounts of tobacco and cigarettes through the port of Hull under the personal use rules. One woman whose car was used by her partner to bring in £500 of tobacco and cigarettes without her knowledge has now been deprived of a vehicle worth £8000. In her case the so-called 'appeals process' has totally failed her. This cannot be justice nor can it be a worthwhile use of Customs and Excise time.'

Diana Wallis explained, 'The personal use rules are mere guidelines issued by the European Commission allowing 800 cigarettes or 1kg of rolling tobacco. The Government is interpreting this as black letter limits to save losses to the Treasury. As reported by BBC News today, Customs at Dover are confiscating up to 250 private vehicles a month. If the values of the case mentioned above were multiplied this could be netting the government over £2 million a month at Dover alone!'

Ms Wallis has welcomed EU Internal Market Commissioner Bolkestein's indication that he regards the UK customs crackdown as heavy-handed and a likely target for legal action by the EU which would result in compensation claims being payable to many vehicle owners.

Said Ms Wallis, 'I had already written to Treasury Minister, Paul Boateng, expressing my outrage on behalf of my constituent and we will certainly now be pursuing this matter vigorously with added back-up from Brussels. Yes, it's excellent to pursue organised criminals but not to disregard the rights of innocent property owners like my constituent whose vehicle has been used by someone else for an alleged minor excise evasion'.

If you have had a similar experience please contact Diana on 01482 609943 or email your comments through the "Your Views" section of this website.