Pressure forces Chancellor into U-turn
The Tunbridge Wells-based Freight Transport Association has welcomed the Chancellor’s confirmation this afternoon that he had put the brakes on a three pence per litre rise in fuel duty later this summer.
George Osborne confirmed there would be no rise in duty for the rest of 2012. The rise had been due to come into force in August.
It followed intense political pressure, with Labour threatening to foce a House of Commons vote on the issue following a campaign by road users’ groups, which argued that the rise, announced in the Budget, would damage the economy.
Mr Osborne’s announcement is excellent news to FairFuelUK, the FTA backed campaign, spearheaded by Kent activist Peter Carroll, which has been lobbying the government for the past year in order to stop planned fuel duty increases and fight for lower fuel prices.
James Hookham, FTA’s managing director, policy and communications. said: “It went down to the political equivalent of penalties, but this time the public and businesses have got something to celebrate.”
“The Chancellor’s decision is absolutely right for the economy and removes that extra cost for commercial vehicle operators that would have hit them hard this summer. The Chancellor now sees the merits of using fuel duty cuts to stimulate growth by keeping cash within businesses. The government needs to engage in a national debate about the role of fuel taxation in the economy and we urge the Chancellor to seize this opportunity.”
Peter Carroll, founder of FairFuelUK said: “This is a great boost for those organisations that back FairFuelUK. There are serious longer term issues to address on fuel taxation and pricing – but for today, we thank the government for listening and acting.”