Fuel Prices

Rosie Cooper Excerpts

Tuesday 15th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Rosie Cooper (West Lancashire) (Lab)]

More than 100,000 people have added their names to an e-petition, and they and many millions more want to know whether the Government are prepared to listen to them and take the necessary action to ease the burden on hard-working families and businesses and, indeed, on our struggling economy. Out of that desire for action, and to support people in my constituency, I added my name to the amendment tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for St Helens North (Mr Watts) that called on the Government to reverse their VAT increase and, in doing so,

“cut 3p off a litre of petrol”.

[Nick Smith]

Very shortly, the Chancellor will give his autumn statement, so does my hon. Friend agree that that is a terrific opportunity for the Government to signal a temporary cut in VAT that will both help drivers and boost our economy?

[Rosie Cooper]

I do indeed, because the general public are simply not interested in any more words, any more knockabout, or any more “he said, she said”. They have signed up in their thousands for action to reduce the cost of fuel and its impact on families and businesses. Study after study shows that transport is integral to an individual’s ability to access employment opportunities and to take part in social and cultural activities. For many people, access to transport is the difference between social exclusion and social inclusion. I could give examples from my West Lancashire constituency that illustrate that the cost of fuel has a significant impact on people, whether they live in urban or rural areas.

The sixties town of Skelmersdale was designed with the car as king. There is no railway station or pavement system to allow people to walk across town, and public transport services are limited. That means that residents rely on their car to get to work and to get around. In many cases, workers are forced to use taxis to travel to work, and if fuel costs increase, residents in those hard-pressed areas must decide whether travelling to work is financially viable.

[Tom Blenkinsop]

Is my hon. Friend concerned, as I am, that the policy of the Department for Work and Pensions of forcing unemployed people to look for work within a radius of 90 miles might be undermined by the fact that fuel costs are so high?

[Rosie Cooper]

In my constituency, to be forced to look for work within 9 miles is darn near impossible because there is no transport infrastructure.

[Andrew Selous (South West Bedfordshire) (Con)]

I think that the hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Tom Blenkinsop) meant to say that it was 90 minutes, rather than 90 miles, which is quite a significant difference.

[Rosie Cooper]

Fine: my answer remains the same.

There are many rural communities in West Lancashire, and in those areas, public transport is almost non-existent. The main services in villages have closed down, so people have to travel to the main towns to shop, to go to the doctors or to go to work. They rely on their car to get about or, in the case of some older people, on the kindness of a friend to give them a lift. Yet again, if people cannot run their car because of costs, that has a negative effect on all aspects of their life. I am concerned about the impact on both the young and older people in rural communities, as they may become ever more isolated, making them more vulnerable. How do pensioners on a fixed income that has been stretched to the limit find the extra money to cope with further fuel increases?

Some people argue that a reduction in fuel duty and thus fuel prices would mean an increase in the number of journeys and carbon emissions. I absolutely understand that argument, which reflects the fact that there is a difficult balance between our desire to tackle climate change and enabling people to go about their daily business, go to work, support their family, and run their company. Simply pricing people out of their car is not a real solution, especially in areas such as West Lancashire, where there is no real alternative in place.

It strikes me that with a flatlining economy, rising unemployment and businesses unwilling to invest because of the current uncertainty, now is exactly the time for flexibility and common sense. People like those living in West Lancashire—hard-working families and local businesses employing people—are looking to the Government to help them out just a little. They want help to ease that burden, and it is probably the least they are owed, after broken promises to introduce a fuel duty stabiliser, a failure to scrap the planned fuel duty increase and a decision to increase VAT. It is time for social justice and fairness. It is time for the Government to listen and to act. People want them to do it, and to do it now.