Neil Parish
Main Page: Neil Parish (Conservative - Tiverton and Honiton)Department Debates - View all Neil Parish's debates with the HM Treasury
Petrol and Diesel
Neil Parish Excerpts(12 years, 5 months ago)
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Robert Halfon
I will in a minute. Because of where they are sitting, I am concerned that two of my colleagues, including my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Neil Parish), have joined the other side—I hope not. The Office of Fair Trading has not investigated the UK oil market since 1998, despite the fact that British petrol and diesel prices are among the highest in Europe, so we need a proper investigation.
Neil Parish
My hon. Friend makes a great case for a reduction in petrol and diesel prices. Oil companies, I believe, take far too much. When crude oil prices go up, they immediately put up their prices, but when the crude prices come down they take for ever to bring their own down. We need a thorough investigation into the oil companies.
Robert Halfon
My hon. Friend is exactly right, which is why I am arguing that the Government should force the Office of Fair Trading to launch an investigation into the uncompetitive nature of oil companies.
The third issue is the problem of local variation in petrol prices, especially in rural areas and towns such as mine. In Harlow, fuel is always 4p to 5p more expensive than it is a couple of miles down the road. I have complained to the OFT. Its letter was a classic Sir Humphrey reply, giving a lot of sympathy and a whole load of reasons why nothing could be done.