As pump prices for petrol head for record levels, SNP Westminster candidate for Banff & Buchan Eilidh Whiteford has slammed the Tories for sitting on their hands as Labour's fuel tax comes into force.
With the AA warning that the price of petrol and diesel is edging closer to a record high at the pumps, following the rise in fuel duty which came into effect on 1 April, the SNP candidate says voters can make Labour pay at the polls for making them pay at the pumps.
Speaking today Eilidh Whiteford said:
“This increase came into effect on April Fool's day and Labour are taking the people of Scotland for fools as the first stage of the Chancellor's fuel tax increase pushes pump prices for petrol up to record levels. But the April Fuel Tax is sadly no joke.
"Increases in fuel duty are not a green tax, they are a Brown one, and people across Scotland have had their fill of Labour’s fuel duty increases. What Treasury Ministers in London forget is that for people in rural areas, a car is a necessity and not a luxury. While Labour brought in the tax, the Tories sat on their hands and did nothing to stop it.
"These latest warnings 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.
“It’s not just hauliers who suffer but ordinary families struggling to run a car for normal use. The effects of rising fuel taxes also impact on prices in the stores with costs increasing to deliver food and other products to the shops."
Eilidh Whiteford has also given a commitment that the SNP will continue to oppose fuel tax hikes and seek the introduction of measures to reduce the pressure on driver, particularly those in rural areas.
Dr Whiteford continued:
“I can categorically say that the SNP MPs will oppose Labour's arbitrary fuel tax hikes and propose the introduction of a fuel duty regulator to ensure price stability as well as lower fuel taxes for remote areas."