SNP MPs WILL PUSH FOR FAIR FUEL REGULATOR
Friday, 5 March 2010
Latest figures from the AA revealing that drivers have endured recent petrol tax increases up to five times higher than in other European countries, show why the SNP is right to propose a fuel duty regulator says SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford.
According to the AA the burden of fuel duty and VAT on a tank of petrol in the UK has gone up by 11.46% since the Pre-Budget Report at the end of November 2008. This compares to just 2.23% in Austria and an average increase for 10 mainstream European countries, including France, Germany, and The Netherlands, of 5.07%.
Commenting Eilidh Whiteford said:
“We all know that Labour has admitted that they will yet again use fuel tax to hammer household motorists and hauliers to pay for their bank bail out.
“However these latest figures from the AA confirm that Labour and Gordon Brown have learnt nothing from their years in government.
“Sky high fuel taxes imposed by Gordon Brown, and latterly Alistair Darling, are indiscriminate and effectively a poll tax on wheels. In rural areas like Banff & Buchan where many people rely on their cars this is particularly unacceptable.
“And it’s not just hauliers who suffer but ordinary families struggling to run a car for normal use. The effects of sky high fuel taxes also impact on prices in the stores with costs rising to deliver food and other products to the shops.
“It shows how much Labour has become out of touch that they should target ordinary people in this way to pay for the bail out of a banking system failure they helped create.
“I can categorically say that SNP MPs will continue to oppose Labour's arbitrary fuel tax hikes and propose the introduction of a fuel duty regulator at the Budget to ensure price stability as well as lower fuel taxes for remote areas.
“An oil rich nation like Scotland should be reaping the benefits from our offshore resources – not watching as North Sea revenues flow into a black hole in the London Treasury coffers while the Scottish budget is slashed.”
