WARRINGTON North MP Helen Jones is calling on the chancellor George Osborne to reverse the government’s VAT rise on fuel.
The hike in VAT to 20 per cent in January has added nearly 3p to the price of a litre of petrol and will raise £700m for the Treasury, according to figures from the independent House of Commons Library.
Labour says the VAT rise should be reversed immediately on petrol using the £800 million extra the government is now getting from the bank levy compared to what it was expecting in the last budget.
Ms Jones (right) said: “I’ve consistently opposed the Conservative-led government’s VAT rise which has hit families in Warrington and helped to push up petrol prices to their current record levels.
“It’s time the chancellor took immediate action on fuel prices to ease the pressure on families who are already facing a tough year with their incomes squeezed.
“In the budget later this month George Osborne should look again at the annual fuel duty rise due in April.
“The last Labour government often postponed planned duty increases when world oil prices were on the up – as they are now. The Tories promised a ‘fuel duty stabiliser’ to win votes before the election, but if they don’t deliver one it will just be another broken promise from this government.
“The AA’s latest fuel price report shows that across the North West the average cost of a litre of unleaded petrol in February was £128.4p – up 6.7p compared to December before the VAT rise.
“The current instability in the Middle East and North Africa is driving up oil prices around the world which means the price of petrol at the pump is continuing to rise.
” Now is the wrong time to be making things even worse for hard-pressed families in Warrington by hiking up VAT, as this government has done. George Osborne should admit he got it wrong and reverse the VAT rise on petrol now. “
Reverse VAT hike says MP
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
7 Comments
well I suppose her refering to the coalition as a “conservative led government” is better than us actually having the “one-eyed Scottish madman led government” we kicked out last year….. but also remember that while she is banging on about a few pence a litre and how it affects business; during her miserable partys’ time in power, petrol rose from an average of 52.7p a litre in 1997 to a whopping 111.9p in 2010 (an approximate 40% rise in the final 5 years) and they still put duty up every year…. she is headline grabbing again as mrs Vobe always does
She isn’t grabbing the headlines, she is having a whinge and is being given the headlines. There must be more nmportant news than the ramblings of this blasted woman.
Heres’s the thing, when Labour lowered VAT to 15% they increased the fuel duty to recover the 2.5%, when VAT went back up to 17.5%, the fuel duty was not reduced. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.. Lets face it all governments find taxing fuel an easy way to raise revenue. In the US the equivalent price of petrol is about £2.50 per gallon, in the UK it is about £6.00, yet the price of a barrel of the black stuff is about $110 no matter where in the world you are.
What a fantastic email – that has made me laugh – I note she has only jumped on the bandwagon now because Councillor Marks has wrote to the Chancellor requesting not to put the April increase on fuel – oh yes the increase that Labour introduced. I thought she would know because she had her Whip out in the Treasury. The town will be buggered if Labour take control
why is it that we all see her in the same dark light??? Talking of darkness I see Mandy had Nick BENT as an advisor – the mind boggles!!!!!
The multiple Pay my Way posters obviously see Helen Jones in the same light. But this view is obviously not shared by the very many who repeatedly vote her into office……it’s that fact that niggles you isn’t it !
The people who vote Labour in this town, by and large live on the big council estates, recieve a big proportion of their income from benefits and think anyone who is on over £30k a year is rich and must be taxed back to their level. Just like the majority of Labour MP’s….. unfortunately, when the Liebour lot got into power, the trappings of earning nice fat salaries got the better of them and suddenly they all turned into closet Tories