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Finance Bill

The hon. Gentleman must have seen my summing-up. It is no surprise that Members who back the new clause represent, by and large, rural and semi-rural constituencies. However, not only rural areas in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and large parts of England are at stake. Every single product we buy in any shop or store is, to some extent, carried by hauliers by road. The implications for the industry and for the prices that we all pay for everything are affected by high fuel prices at the pump and high oil duties. The new clause is a sensible response to a genuine problem. The first element would reinvest VAT revenues to lower fuel duties, should the price at the pump stay high for a prolonged period. The second would freeze oil duties on the basis of market conditions, not the Chancellor’s whim. Some may argue that higher fuel costs will take motorists off the road, but as I suggested earlier, the new clause would not minimise or negate any planned or managed duty rises for the purpose of environmental benefits, because it simply provides for removing or ameliorating the worst effects of spiking, prolonged spiking and high world oil prices. I ask all hon. Members who are considering voting against the new clause—the empty Labour Benches suggest that Labour Members are in their offices—to remember the businesses and consumers in much of Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and large parts of England that need a haulier to get their goods to market. I ask everyone to think of hauliers whose margins are already tight, to consider transport businesses that are offshoring and going out of business, and to think of the families and consumers who do not have the option of a regular bus, train or tube service to get to work or perform the most basic task, even getting to school. The new clause is a sensible amendment to moderate high oil prices and to mitigate prolonged rises in the price at the pump. We need a road fuel regulator to benefit the people who put us all here a few short weeks ago. I ask the Government to consider seriously at least the principle of the new clause. I hope that it can gain as much support throughout the House as it deserves.