Tag Archives: fuel duty

Lib Dems call for fuel duty to be cut in more rural areas

Liberal Democrats have urged the Government to reduce fuel duty in rural areas, after analysis found that households in more remote areas paid £114 in transport costs each week in the year to March 2020, almost £40 more than those in urban areas.

The Lib Dems want an expansion of the rural fuel duty relief scheme, which is currently offered in a handful of remote areas of the UK, including Scotland islands and other areas, Scilly, and Hawes.

The proposal is to extend the relief to places where “public transport options are limited and drivers are being disproportionately hit by rising fuel prices”. This would include Devon, Cornwall, Cumbria, Shropshire and rural parts of Wales. The Lib Dems also want the relief to be doubled to 10p a litre.

Reported by the Telegraph and the i, rural affairs spokesman Tim Farron said:

The Government must act now to help rural families on the brink, by expanding the fuel duty relief scheme.

Ministers need to also crack down on the petrol profiteers who are cashing in on people’s misery at the pump.

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Danny Alexander announces plans to extend rural fuel derogation

petrol pumpIn 2010, Danny Alexander made sure that there was a commitment to fair rural fuel duty in the Coalition Agreement. Last year he was able to deliver on that, securing a 5p reduction in duty for remote island areas.

Now he wants to see if that can be extended. As a first step towards that, petrol retailers are being asked to supply details of the prices they charge .The Government will then use that information as the basis s of a further application to reduce the duty in those areas.

If …

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Michael Moore MP’s Westminster notes

Every week, Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland writes a column for newspapers in his Borders constituency. Here’s this week’s edition.

Armed forces day

Armed Forces Day last Saturday was a chance for the country to express its gratitude for the courage and bravery of serving and former service personnel, as well as the immense contribution made by their families. In my constituency we have a strong connection with our armed forces so I was pleased to be able to take part in various celebrations to mark the day.

As UK citizens, we have a duty of care towards the men and

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LDVideo: Chloe Smith’s car-crash fuel duty Newsnight interview

Yesterday saw George Osborne execute his latest U-turn, postponing from August until January next year the 3p-a-litre rise in fuel duty. Here is that U-turn, by the way:

Last night, Conservative Treasury minister did a tour of the media studios to defend the decision. Unfortunately for her, that included facing Jeremy Paxman live on BBC2’s Newsnight. You can watch the fairly excruciating result below (from approx. 6m:15s in):

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