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Finance (No. 2) Bill

The hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) made much of the difficulties that rural areas face in paying high fuel prices. I sympathise greatly with their situation, to which my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso) also referred. I should however point out to the hon. Member for Dundee, East that money is fungible, and that although the people to whom he referred may be experiencing a disadvantage as a result of high fuel duty, if they have a corresponding and offsetting advantage through a reduction in vehicle excise duty, they will be free to spend that money as they like. That would deal with the problem, which is precisely what the amendments before us are meant to do. The United Kingdom has a difficulty, in that the main instrument available for changing behaviour in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change is green taxes. However, green taxes, of which two thirds comprise fuel duty, have fallen from 3.6 per cent. of gross domestic product in 2000 to 3 per cent., according to the latest figures. The Budget proposals will in fact lead to a further fall in green taxes as a percentage of GDP. One reason for the reluctance to rely more on green taxes and the price mechanism in providing an incentive to change behaviour is precisely those difficult cases such as rural areas. The relevance of amendment No. 21 is that it would deal with a specific set of problems and release a wider instrument to be used against greenhouse gases.