|
SNP DEMAND
ACTION TO DRIVE DOWN PRICES
SNP Westminster candidate for North East Fife,
Rod Campbell has
called on the UK Government to reconsider its fuel duty escalator
planned for April 2010 as the
petrol prices soar across Scotland.
Rod also highlighted the unfair higher petrol prices which
motorists are subjected
to in rural North East Fife.
According to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), average petrol prices
across the
UK rose by 2.9p to 108.3p a litre in November – but in parts
of rural Scotland, the price has risen to as much
as 115p per litre.
The SNP's Westminster Group of MPs has long campaigned for an overhaul
of the current
fuel taxation system, proposing instead a Fuel Duty
Regulator which would offset increased VAT paid on fuel as oil prices
rise by reducing fuel tax. The overall result being the same amount of
taxation income for the Treasury but cheaper
pump prices.
Commenting, Rod Campbell said:
“People in rural Fife are fed up of being ripped off
at the pumps.
“It’s getting more and more expensive to run a car and is set to get
even more
in the new year, but in rural parts of North East Fife, a
vehicle is a necessity rather than a luxury.
“At
the moment the government siphons off 70% of each pound spent
running your car and seem happy to keep this up despite
the strain this
puts on an area like North East Fife.
“London Treasury Ministers simply fail to understand
the concerns of
rural areas like ours and should cancel their fuel duty escalator and
look at measures which will
stabilise fuel prices such as the SNP’s
fuel duty regulator. At the moment Westminster is
holding Scotland
back.”
|
