Fuel Prices

Andrew Bingham Excerpts

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)]

Chancellors of all persuasions have increased tax on fuel for many years, and that is why we have the highest fuel taxes in Europe and the second highest in the world. The last Government embraced that tendency with enthusiasm by introducing 12 increases in fuel duty. This Government, however, have done more than any other to help the motorist, by voiding two years’ worth of the last Government’s tax increases. I also welcome the Chancellor’s deferral of the August rise earlier this year, which many of us wanted.

Across the country, businesses and individuals have been hit by fuel costs. When the price of oil goes up time after time, so does the petrol price, yet when the oil price comes down, the petrol price remains steadfastly where it is. This weekend, prices came within about 3p of a record high.

On top of that, there is a discrepancy between rural and urban areas. Fuel is about 133p a litre at the pumps this week; in High Peak, it is as much as 144p a litre—a 10% premium.

[Julian Sturdy]

rose—

[Andrew Bingham]

I shall take two interventions, and this will be the first.

[Julian Sturdy]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Do not oil companies and supermarkets often sell fuel at inflated prices in rural areas to offset the cost of production and the lower prices in urban areas? That is having a huge impact on retailers as well.

[Andrew Bingham]

Absolutely. Unfortunately, rural residents like me have been beaten into submission and pay high fuel prices.

Furthermore, cars are more vital to people living in rural areas than to those living in urban areas. Many Members will not know the small village of Edale in my constituency, although the walkers and ramblers among them will. My hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) set off from Edale on his charity walk of the Pennine way earlier this year.

[Mr Rob Wilson]

Is my hon. Friend as disappointed as I am about the contribution of the hon. Member for East Lothian (Fiona O’Donnell)? She complained about the Minister being late, yet few of her colleagues have bothered to turn up for what she described as a very important debate.

[Andrew Bingham]

I completely agree. A couple of days ago, I was in the Chamber for the Opposition day debate about universal credit. The Opposition made great play of the fact that there were more Members on their Benches than ours, so let us turn it back on them: many Government Members are here because we care about the motorist and the cost of fuel.

I return to the people in the rural areas of High Peak. The residents of Edale face a 14-mile round trip to a post office. They have to go 10 miles for a doctor or dentist. All those journeys have to be made using their own transport. In rural areas, a car is a necessity, not a luxury. If we add all those journeys together over a year, the extra fuel costs can amount to as much as £400 to do the 2,000 miles that people in urban areas do not have to do. Those rural residents travel further and pay higher prices at the pumps.

[Andrew Percy (Brigg and Goole) (Con)]

Is it not also true that in rural northern England the problem is compounded by the fact that our average salaries are so much lower?

[Andrew Bingham]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point with brevity, and I appreciate that.

We hear about deprivation in different parts of society. There is a thing called rural deprivation. Yes, I am lucky to represent and live in a beautiful area, but we pay for that through higher fuel costs and our increased reliance on fuel. Lots of other rural communities up and down the country suffer the same misfortune.

We are lucky that our Government are in power, because we are 10p a litre better off than we would be if the Labour party were still in government. However, we pay more in rural areas. The difference goes to the oil companies, not necessarily the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I believe that the Government are doing everything they can to keep fuel prices down, but it is time that the oil companies started to play their part and did what they could. We need to make motoring affordable. I welcome the call by the Office of Fair Trading for information on the UK petrol and diesel market; I hope that it will shed enough light to inspire a full investigation. We need open and transparent oil trading.

[Graham Jones (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

Is the hon. Gentleman suggesting that markets do not work?

[Andrew Bingham]

Far from it; the market would work perfectly if we could see a little more of how it works. The issue is about ensuring that there are fair petrol prices and that when the oil price comes down, so does the petrol price.

Mrs Bingham complains that I do not take her anywhere expensive any more, but last week I took her to a petrol station in High Peak. [Laughter.] I spoil her.

In the interests of brevity, I will conclude. I hope that the action of the OFT will lead to an investigation into fuel prices. I hope that it will do it quickly and fairly and that the oil companies will react and do what we are doing as a Government to help to get the prices down. They should do that quickly to help hard-working families in High Peak and across the country and to help get the economy going, enabling people to put fuel in their cars and live their lives as they wish.