Stirrer Comment

FOR GORD’S SAKE …CUT THE FUEL DUTY

30-04-2008

It says everything about Gordon Brown’s political instincts that he’s only just apologised for the 10p income tax fiasco. Sorry mate, that was last week’s crisis – this week it’s the price of fuel. And we need the government to act now.

Brown admitted on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning that he’d bungled the elimination of the lowest tax band – but it does him little credit when the rest of the country came to the same conclusion days ago.

He wasn’t even the first Cabinet Minister to confess to the cock-up – that honour goes to Justice Secretary Jack Straw who we identified yesterday as his main Labour rival for the keys to Number 10 (see link here).

If Gordon really wanted to be seen as a man of the people he would now move swiftly to scrap the 2p rise in fuel duty which was originally planned for April, but then deferred until October.

This was the focus of protests by hauliers in London yesterday. Similar demonstrations will no doubt follow in the West Midlands before long, as hard-pressed distribution firms squeal under the burden of ever rising costs.

Fuel duty is already far higher in this country than the rest of continental Europe – and as this region has more truckers than most, we have every reason to fear a further hike.

The rocketing price of petrol and diesel isn’t the Treasury’s fault of course – that’s down to supply, the role of speculators and the political situation in the Middle East.

But that shouldn’t disguise the fact that the every time the price goes up, the Exchequer is one of the biggest beneficiaries - along with the oil companies, who are raking in gargantuan profits (see link here).

The Road Haulage Association is backing a proposal by the SNP’s Alex Salmond for the appointment of a fuel regulator to stabilise prices at the pumps.

At the moment, whenever oil rises by $2 per barrel, duty rises 1p; the suggestion is that beyond a certain level, the regulator could trigger a cut in duty instead, to even out the massive upward surge we’ve seen in recent weeks.

The government would still meet it’s projected income from fuel duty – it just wouldn’t get a huge windfall whenever prices rose excessively. It might also keep a few thousand people in work around the West Midlands.

If Brown acted decisively now, he would win instant applause – as well as heading off a crisis which only seems likely to get worse.

Make the announcement today or tomorrow and he might even avert Labour’s looming disaster at the local elections.

Do nothing, and British workers – not to mention his own party – will not forgive him.