Government urged: don't cut fuel duty but spend it wisely » Environment » 24dash.com

Campaign for Better Transport, responding to plans by the road haulage lobby for a demonstration on Tuesday, today urged the Chancellor to reject calls for a decrease in fuel duty and to use the revenue to give people real travel choices.

Roads and Climate Campaigner Richard George said:

“Calling for lower fuel duty just shows how out of touch the road haulage lobby is with the need to tackle climate change. Emissions from goods vehicles are skyrocketing – up 18% between 1997 and 2006. Hauliers should be asking the Chancellor for bigger incentives to go green and make their fleets more fuel efficient.

“The Government must reject calls for a cut in fuel duty. Road haulage already gets a huge subsidy from taxpayers, who have to fork out to cover the congestion, pollution and damage to roads caused by thousands of heavy goods vehicles. And the Government revealed last week that the cost of motoring has fallen 4% since 2005. But it is essential that fuel duty revenue be spent on improving public transport, walking and cycling so that people have real travel choices.”

Campaign for Better Transport has produced a factsheet correcting some of the myths surrounding fuel duty:

Fuel duty has not been increasing in line with inflation since 2000, with the small increase in October 2007 the first in years
Tax, as a percentage of fuel, has not been this low since 1993

Higher fuel prices are down to high oil prices not because of fuel duty

The real cost of motoring has fallen in the past decade, while the cost of taking public transport has increased
 
The factsheet is available online: http://www.bettertransport.org.uk/campaigns/climate_change/roads/facts