Fuel Prices and the Cost of Living

Chris Ruane Excerpts

Wednesday 16th March 2011 Commons Chamber

[Ms Eagle]

Let me finish my sentence. It is absolutely the case that it was Conservative Chancellors of the Exchequer who first introduced the fuel duty escalator.

[Chris Ruane (Vale of Clwyd) (Lab)]

And it escalated.

[Ms Eagle]

It did escalate. It is also true that it escalated for one year when we came into government, but we had six years when we did not increase fuel duty at all—not even in real terms. Fuel duty escalators need to be applied sensitively.