Taxi Driver Online

10 Mar 2008

MP joins call to freeze fuel duty

FARMERS, haulage companies, taxi firms and MPs are among those calling
on Chancellor Alistair Darling not to bring in a 2.35 pence per litre rise in the Budget.

North East Cambridgeshire MP Malcolm Moss has backed calls for a freeze
on fuel duties to stop the price of petrol breaking the £5 a gallon barrier.

The average price of unleaded in Cambridge is currently 107.5p per litre
and diesel is 113.2p per litre.

The Tory MP believes the chancellor should drop any plans to boost the
tax on motorists in his Wednesday Budget.

And he stresses that business will suffer if the Cabinet minister increases
the duties on top of rising oil prices.

Mr Moss said: "The chancellor should freeze fuel duties in his Budget on
Wednesday.

"We have learnt over the weekend that he has received a £4 billion
windfall gain on taxes from oil production in the North Sea. There is
therefore no further excuse for him to increase fuel duty, which hits
ordinary motorists, businessmen and farmers in Cambridgeshire.

"Mr Darling should now peg the duty on petrol and diesel, which is hitting
household budgets and the economy of farmers in Cambridgeshire
unfairly hard."

The cost of fuel has increased by nearly 20 per cent in 12 months,
according to the Office of National Statistics.

John Bridge, chief executive of Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce,
said: "Everyone's affected by it. Businesses are affected by it as it comes
at a time when they are finding it difficult to pass on their costs to their customers.

"It's beginning to put pressure on everybody, and the big problem is in
relation to the road haulage industry as our fuel duty is twice the level of
the European average.

"It's unfair competition as the UK Government does not charge foreign
trucks any money at all to drive on our roads."

The owner of a haulage company in Cambridge, who asked not to be
named, is resigned to the changes.

He said: "The Europeans get concessions, but we don't. This will have a
dramatic effect on everybody. The Government don't seem to be worried
about it, they're just

adding everything on.

"The public could take a stand, but everybody knows that, in reality, it's
not going to happen.

"The cost will be passed on, if it doesn't the company goes bust, it's as
simple as that."

Taxi firms in Cambridgeshire are also in the midst of a crisis as workers
struggle to earn a living.

Operations manager of Cambridge-based Panther Taxis, Paul Clare, said:
"What I can tell you is in recent months our drivers have been coming in
and talking of the living profit margins decreasing, and this can only make
it a whole lot worse and worrying for them.

"It affects the amount of customers, the viability of being a taxi driver
long-term and the health of the trade.

"If fuel goes up there will be a pressure to increase the fares. I think it's at
the point where the public need to think about doing something."

Donald Graves, owner of Cambridge Connections, said: "It's not just taxis,
it's every form of delivery service that'll have to put the price of goods up.

"The Government's greedy and it's got a lot on its plate right now. It's
fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and needs the money, and motorists
are easy targets."

A coalition, including the TaxPayers' Alliance and the National Farmers'
Union, has demanded the rise, scheduled for April 1, be scrapped.

Dr Jeff Jones, of the Cambridge University Farm, said: "The thing is, as a
farmer, what you pay at the pump doesn't affect us that much directly. It's
only vehicles that you use on the roads that you put white diesel in.

"Red diesel, used by farmers, is cheaper, roughly about half the price. I
paid 52p a litre last week and at the petrol pump it's about £1.10.

"However, the price is still rising exactly the same as that on the petrol
pump."

Source: Cambridge Evening News

Related TDO Topic(s):
Fuel prices on the up
Fuel tax plan will harm taxi firms
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