ALEXANDER PRAISED BY FAIR FUEL CAMPAIGN
1-Nov-2012
Highland MP and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has been praised by the leaders of FairFuel UK who are due to present him with a report criticising a 3p-per-litre fuel duty increase planned for January.
The report, which claims the rise could lead to as many as 35,000 job losses and have a negative effect on economic growth, will be presented to the Treasury Secretary during a meeting in London.
Quentin Willson, national spokesman for FairFuelUK said:
"Danny Alexander understands this critical point and is one of the few politicians who's actually listening to the facts and engaging with our argument.
"We have always argued that fuel duty shouldn't be the Treasury's sacred cash cow - it should be used a lever for growth.
"And we've proved our argument with robust financial research and modelling that shows if you raise duty you destroy jobs and damage growth."
Highland MP and Chief Secretary to the Treasury said:
"As a Highland MP I understand all too well the damage high fuel prices can do to a local economy, which is why I announced last week that the Government is looking into extending the Islands Fuel discount to the Highlands and why I think it's absolutely right that the Government carefully considers the planned fuel duty increase.
"This Government has already dropped 11p of duty increases planned by the previous Labour government."
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Produced by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, the report said cutting fuel duty by 3p instead of raising it by 3p would create 70,000 new jobs and boost growth by 0.2%.
- The report added that the 6p relative difference between the two options would normally have been estimated to have lost the Treasury about GBP3 billion.
