PETROL AT £1.20 A LITRE - SNP MPs WILL PUSH FOR FAIR FUEL REGULATOR

PETROL AT £1.20 A LITRE - SNP MPs WILL PUSH FOR FAIR FUEL REGULATOR

£84 TO FILL UP A FAMILY CAR

OPPOSITION PARTIES PRESSED TO SUPPORT FAIR FUEL

Commenting on today’s reports from the AA that petrol prices could hit a record high of £1.20 a litre in the next few weeks, the Scottish National Party have called on other parties to back the SNP’s proposal for a fuel duty regulator which would stabilise fuel prices.

The SNP Group at Westminster have announced they will be introducing an amendment to the coming budget bill for the introduction of a fuel duty regulator and challenged opposition parties to support its introduction following their failure in previous budgets.

Commenting, SNP Transport Spokesman and MP for the Western Isles Angus MacNeil said:

“Sky high fuel taxes imposed by Gordon Brown, and latterly Alistair Darling, are indiscriminate and effectively a poll tax on wheels.

“The AA may be warning that it will become commonplace for petrol to hit £1.20 a litre in the next few weeks but in many areas of Scotland this is already the reality and in my constituency the price has already reached £1.25.

“It’s not just hauliers who suffer but ordinary families struggling to run a car for normal use. It now costs the best part of £100 to fill up a Ford Mondeo.

“The effects of sky high fuel taxes also impact on prices in the stores with costs rising to deliver food and other products to the shops.”

SNP Treasury Spokesman, Stewart Hosie MP added:

“We all know that Labour has admitted that they will yet again use fuel tax to hammer household motorists and hauliers to pay for their bank bail out.

“However these latest figures from the AA confirm that Labour and Gordon Brown have learnt nothing from their years in government.

“However they can make amends by supporting the SNP’s call for a fuel duty regulator. Despite this measure having extensive industry support Labour voted against this fair fuel measure and the Tories and LIbDems failed to support it. The coming budget gives them an opportunity to rectify that failure.

“An oil rich nation like Scotland should be reaping the benefits from our offshore resources – not watching as North Sea revenues flow into a black hole in Treasury coffers while the Scottish budget is slashed.”