Currently reading: Tories' fuel policy under fire
Transport secretary criticises opposition's fuel duty policy

Transport secretary Geoff Hoon has attacked the Conservatives for wanting to increase the cost of motoring just as the global downturn begins to bite.

"A promise on fuel tax which David Cameron made to win headlines in July would now add millions of pounds to British families' tax bills," said Hoon.

"For all his smooth patter, the truth is Mondeo drivers would now be paying £2.10 a tank more."

In July of this year George Osborne launched the opposition's Fair Fuel Stabiliser, which reduced fuel duty as the price of oil rose, and increased duty when the price of oil fell beneath the Treasury forecast of $84 a barrel.

Brent Crude, the benchmark grade of crude oil, has now dropped to less than $65 a barrel.

The Conservatives weren't the only ones who failed to predict a drop in oil prices.

When the policy was launched Kitty Ussher, then Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said that the proposal "would mean a massive hole in the public finances".

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coolGav 24 October 2008

Re: Tories' fuel policy under fire

This "Fair Fuel Stabiliser" actually sounds like it could work. Less price fluctuations to reduce peaks and troughs of demand, thus allowing for more stable prices - a feedback loop... That would mean the tax revenue would also be easier to predict, resulting in less civil servants to work out where the next £billion for the [ wbankers | NHS | MOD | EU ] would come from.

Like aendsor, I also think fuel duty (if it were used to tackle pollution and motoring/transportation issues, rather than going into the Treasury slosh fund) is the fairest way to tax the motorist. Annual VED isn't really fair (although I'm not badly effected driving a 124g/km diesel).

aendsor 24 October 2008

Re: Tories' fuel policy under fire

Labour may have pointed this out but that didn't stop them taking millions upon millions when oil was over $84, and Conservatives have also ruled out adopting Labours new VED rules which pathetically hurts those owning cars that will soon be eight years old and in now way reflects your emissions except for over one kilometre, meaning if you own an eight year old executive car and cover 10,000 miles, you have to pay as much as £500 for a car worth £800-1600 where as someone who buys a new so-called environmentally friendly car covers 20,000 miles producing 60% of the emissions per kilometre, yet overall producing more, not to mention the emissions for the new cars manufacture and an old cars recycling or dumping, an area making the Prius no less far more damaging to the environment than even the Range Rover. Meanwhilst the industrial populations of unbelievable magnitude side on the other side of the world will carry on freely polluting the globe in far greater amounts than we could imagine. I'd rather spend more on fuel and abolish road tax because it actually reflects A) mileage and B) effiency because higher mileage or lower efficiency both lead to higher fuel use and directly emissions. Why can't our government see this is the fairest solution?