|
Call for action on escalating fuel prices in the Borders and
highlighting that in hard times for our local retailers that we
should do all we can to shop locally.
in the Berwickshire News, Southern Reporter, October
2007
Sir,
In 2006, the SNP group at Westminster highlighted that fuel tax
increases introduced by the Tories' fuel tax escalator, and
implemented by Labour's own Dick Turpin, Gordon Brown, had resulted
in pump prices in rural Scotland having broken the £1 per litre
mark. Scotland now again faces rapidly rising fuel prices on our
forecourts. Incredibly, we are about to see three more tax hikes in
fuel duty over the next eighteen months from a Labour UK government
that is blind to the needs of rural areas. This week's increase of
2p per litre (2.3p per litre after VAT) will be followed by a
totally unjustified increase of a further 4.5p per litre for diesel
by April 2009, raising the average litre of diesel by a total of
6.8p per litre, even before rapidly rising crude oil prices.
An SNP amendment to the 2006 Finance Bill proposed protection for
motorists from the impact of soaring crude oil prices, through a
Fuel Tax Regulator. The Regulator would have ensured an automatic
freeze on any planned fuel duty increases, and a reduction in duty
to match any increases in VAT revenues arising from higher pump
prices. This would have been tax neutral, and would have helped to
allow businesses to plan ahead and to compete more effectively in
export markets, where haulage costs are critical. However the SNP's
very sensible amendment was defeated.
While CO2 emissions need to be controlled, the Government should
spare the stick when there is no carrot on offer. The Borders has
low population density and negligible public transport
infrastructure, while urban areas of the UK, well served by public
transport, have considerably lower fuel prices. Adding insult to
injury, Scotland's rural economy suffers the UK's highest fuel costs
despite our country being one of the World's key oil producers and
refining a disproportionately large share of the UK's petrol and
diesel.
In an area such as the Borders, rising pump prices will increase
the cost of goods brought in by hauliers, squeeze farm gate prices,
punish consumers on fixed incomes, and deter tourists. It could push
hauliers to the brink, by adding almost £3000 to the annual cost of
operating a 44-tonne articulated lorry. It will most likely further
erode profit margins at our few remaining garage forecourts and
several Borders villages, such as Ayton, Gordon, Co'path and others
have already lost their local petrol stations. Other closures may
follow. I would urge consumers to save their anger for the ballot
box and support our remaining independent garages who are struggling
against competition from supermarkets that buy fuel in bulk and then
sell it as a loss-leader. I would also urge readers to do their best
to shop locally in the festive period ahead, at what could become a
difficult time for our retailers.
Yours faithfully
Paul Wheelhouse
SNP Prospective Parliamentary Candidate,
Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk |
|
