Partner Article

Tory fuel duty plan rubbished by businesses

Businesses are unimpressed at Conservative proposals to overhaul the system which governs the amount motorists pay for fuel duty.

The plans, unveiled by shadow Chancellor George Osborne earlier this week, would link fuel duty levels directly to oil prices - so as fuel prices rise, duty decreases. He said if the ‘fair fuel stabiliser’ had been implemented in the last budget, duty would currently be 5p lower.

Osborne said: “It’s a common sense plan to bring stability to public finances and help the environment by making the price of carbon less volatile.”

Graeme Leach, chief economist and head of policy at the Institute of Directors (IoD), indicated Osborne’s proposals were unrealistic. He said: “These proposals are an innovative idea and will be particularly helpful to road hauliers, but in the next few years the fiscal pressures on the government are going to be so intense that there will be little room for manoeuvre.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .