Fuel prices are an election issue

By Luke Pollard, on Thursday, April 21, 2011

Fuel prices are an election issue, not least because of how the Coalition are misrepresenting their action on fuel

Fuel prices have just hit an all time record high in Devon. Motorists are now paying £10 more to fill up their tank than they were a year ago according to BBC Devon. The Beeb’s study of fuel prices in Devon shows that the average price of petrol is £1.36 a litre and higher at £1.42 for diesel. This is piling pressure on hard working families across the region as travelling becomes more expensive.

I appeared on BBC Radio Devon this morning [Thursday, April 21] alongside the Lib Dem’s Adrian Sanders and Tory MP for Tiverton and Honiton, Neil Parish to talk fuel prices. Now, let me first be clear I think Labour should have done more to keep fuel duty under control when we were in Government, but that does not mean we should not be speaking up for families and businesses across Devon who find filling up at the pump an even more painful experience each time they visit their forecourt.

The Chancellor tried to con motorists at the Budget with a paltry 1p reduction in fuel duty. This was slavishly heralded by the right wing media as a sign that the Chancellor was listening to the concerns of motorists. Was it really? Was it the same listening Chancellor that had just put 3p on fuel because of the VAT rise? You cannot add 3p per litre with one hand and take 1p off a litre with another and present it as a tax cut because plainly it isn’t.

The Fair Fuel Stabiliser that the Chancellor announced may sound good, but I’ve not seen any evidence of its impact yet. Have you? I also don’t buy the idea that the Government will tax oil companies more and that this additional cost to their businesses won’t be passed through to consumers in some way. Ed Miliband branded this type of thinking ‘Del Boy Economics’.

What I found quite disingenuous about the fuel price debate is that the facts are being misrepresented by the Tory-led coalition. Motorists can see the price at the pumps for themselves and they know that the prices are going up. It is for that reason I took exception to Mr Parish claiming that the Chancellor had cancelled Labour’s planned inflation increase.

An even casual glance at the Budget documents – and you only have to go to page 4 to find the first reference to the postponement – would highlight that the 5p duty rise has not been cancelled, but has instead been postponed until January. That may still be six months away, but to say it has been cancelled when it is simply pain postponed until 2012 is a bit naughty.

Areas like Devon are especially hard hit by increasing fuel prices. Not only are wages low in our county, but the cuts are having a greater impact here than in other areas. This means incomes are being squeezed and this makes paying more at the pumps harder. You might be able to forgive some tax cuts if the Government was investing in bus services but they’re not. The latest round of cuts from Devon County Council will see rural bus services cut and we know what a terrible and utterly predictable impact selling CityBus has had on bus routes in Plymouth.

I don’t want to knock Mr Parish too much though. I support his efforts to see more price transparency in pricing of fuel and I applaud his efforts to champion rural businesses in fighting for lower fuel prices. The first step though must be being honest about the hikes in fuel prices that this Government has made and the ones they have planned for us. By the time of the next Budget fuel may well have hit £1.50 per litre in Devon – and that simply means people are being priced out of travelling and that will be bad for business, bad for families and bad for Devon.

It is time the Government reversed the VAT fuel hike, canned the planned 5p increase in fuel duty and looked seriously at reducing the cost of fuel especially in rural areas.

• Listen to Luke on BBC Radio Devon (It’s around the 2hr 10min mark – link live to Thursday, April 28)