Chancellor Alistair Darling
Representatives of the freight and haulage industry are due to meet chancellor Alistair Darling today to urge him to scrap a rise in fuel duty by a further two pence.
The government is coming under huge pressure not to raise duty on April 1 and truck operators, along with the RAC Foundation, have all signed a letter to the Daily Telegraph calling for a rethink.
The letter has been signed by eleven major groups representing industry and motorists, and reads: ‘At 50.35p per litre, UK fuel duty for diesel and petrol is already the highest in Europe. Indeed UK diesel duty is double the EU average rate of 25p per litre. The Chancellor now plans to increase this by 2p per litre from 1 April. Such an increase will generate further serious difficulties for the transport and forecourt industries, business drivers, those dependent on the car, and for businesses or individuals in remote or rural areas with no alternative transport options.
‘During the last eighteen months the whole of UK industry has experienced increased costs as a consequence of higher oil prices on the world market. At a time when we are suffering from the joint threats of an economic slowdown and increasing inflation, the higher costs of transporting goods and services resulting from price rises for fuel have impacted on every single company throughout the UK, and thus on their customers.
‘Clearly the Chancellor can have little or no influence on the world price of oil, although he enjoys unbudgeted income when it rises. However, he is responsible for the greater part of the cost of diesel and petrol which is made up of fuel duty and VAT. These taxes constitute almost two-thirds of pump prices – for every £1.05 per litre the Government collects 66p.’
‘In the interests of every company moving goods and their customers, and of the economy in general, we the undersigned call on the Chancellor to recognise these problems and to abandon his plans for a 2p per litre increase in fuel duty from 1 April.’
The letter is signed by representatives from the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association, Automobile Association, British Association of Removers, British Chambers of Commerce, Confederation of Passenger Transport, Federation of Small Businesses, Forum of Private Business, National Farmers Union, Petrol Retailers’ Association and the RAC Foundation.
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