STEVENSON WELCOMES DARLING’S FUEL DUTY U-TURN

Banff & Buchan MSP Stewart Stevenson has welcomed the news that the Westminster Treasury has shelved plans to hit struggling motorists’ pockets even harder with a 2p Fuel Duty increase.

Motorists are already struggling to cope with high fuel prices, something that the UK government’s ill advised plans would only have made far worse. In rural areas like Banff & Buchan, where there is often little alternative but to use a car, the effects of the increased tax would have been the most devastating.

Commenting, Mr Stevenson said:

“I’m sure that fellow residents of Banff & Buchan will be as relieved as I am that Alistair Darling has finally seen sense and scrapped his planned tax hike in response to SNP demands.

“However, this must only be the first step in addressing the spiralling cost of fuel. The Treasury must follow up this move with the introduction of a Fuel Duty Regulator so that the level of fuel taxation falls as the price of oil increases. This would stabilise the cost of filling up a car and ensure that high oil prices don’t cause the kind of financial hardship we are currently seeing.

“The Treasury has already taken in £6 billion more than it expected in North Sea oil revenues as a result of high oil prices and to not offset the higher prices at the pump with these gains is to unfairly punish motorists.

“I am glad that SNP pressure in Glasgow East has caused this shift in policy, but there is still more that must be done. The SNP will continue to press for a fairer deal for motorists and I hope that Alistair Darling will continue to follow our recommendations”.