Home > Press releases > Government must stand firm on petrol duty
11 February 2008
The Chancellor must resist calls to scrap plans for a 2p rise in fuel duty, Friends of the earth said today. The environmental campaign group said that the cost of motoring has actually fallen in real terms since Labour came to power, and called on Ministers to do more to encourage people to use alternatives to the car and to buy fuel efficient vehicles.
The motoring lobby is calling on the Chancellor to scrap the duty increase which is due to come into effect on 1 April.
Friends of the Earth's Transport campaigner, Tony Bosworth, said;
“The Chancellor must stand up to the motoring lobby and go ahead with plans to increase fuel duty. The real cost of motoring has fallen under Labour, and traffic levels have risen by more than 10 per cent. Ministers must do more to help people get out of their cars and onto less damaging forms of transport, use next month's Budget to encourage people to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles, and look at measures to help poorer households in rural areas who may be hardest hit by fuel price rises. Unless we tackle rising carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector the Government's climate change targets are unlikely to be met.”
For further information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.
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