PETROL PRICES CLOSE TO RECORD HIGH AS DUTY RISE KICKS IN

PETROL PRICES CLOSE TO RECORD HIGH AS DUTY RISE KICKS IN

VOTING SNP WILL ENSURE FAIR FUEL PRICES

With the AA warning today that the price of petrol and diesel is edging closer to a record high at the pumps, following the one-penny rise in fuel duty which came into effect at midnight, SNP MP Angus MacNeil said voters can make Labour pay at the polls for making them pay at the pumps.

Commenting Mr MacNeil said:

“Labour were warned that their support for higher fuel taxes would hit ordinary people and we are already seeing the effects of that tax rise in the price at the pump.

"And 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 warnings from the AA confirm that Labour and Gordon Brown have learnt nothing from their years in government.

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

“And it’s not just hauliers who suffer but ordinary families struggling to run a car for normal use. The effects of rising fuel taxes also impact on prices in the stores with costs increasing to deliver food and other products to the shops.

“It shows how out of touch Labour have become that they should target ordinary people in this way to pay for the bail out of a banking system failure they helped create.

“I can categorically say that the SNP MPs will oppose Labour's arbitrary fuel tax hikes and propose the introduction of a fuel duty regulator to ensure price stability as well as lower fuel taxes for remote areas.

"By voting SNP the people of Scotland can make Labour pay at the polls for making them pay at the pumps.

“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.”