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Fuel Duty (Rural Areas)

I am no expert on Greece or France, or on how people there conduct their internal lobbying. However, what I will say in honesty to the hon. Gentleman is that, to be fair to the Treasury, I lobbied against the vehicle excise duty that the Treasury was imposing. That crude mechanism would have hit not only the Chelsea tractors, but vehicles and motorists in my constituency. When I lobbied against it, the Treasury did listen; it modified the vehicle excise changes to help people in my constituency. There is therefore a glimmer of hope there that the Treasury is indeed listening to Members of Parliament. I led a delegation to the Chancellor because I thought that that crude mechanism that the Treasury was bringing in for good environmental reasons—I must say that it was supported by many Opposition Members at the time—was imperfect and that it would hurt my constituents the most. I lobbied, the Treasury listened, and it did not impose that duty. Older cars are essential for many people in my area because they cannot afford to change them, although the scrappage scheme has helped. However, those cars often use more petrol than smaller vehicles. The bad weather has shown that 4x4s are essential in communities in my area and that of the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland. Such communities would grind to a halt without them. We are being penalised for living further west. I have looked at websites that compare prices, and the eye-watering figures that the hon. Gentleman gave are not quite replicated in my area, but there is a huge differential. The further west people live in north Wales, the more they pay for petrol. In my home town of Holyhead, which is in the westernmost area, Tesco is the main retailer and there are few independents. It charges 114p to 116p per litre for diesel, and 112p to 113p per litre for the cheapest unleaded petrol. In Llandudno, which is 60 or 70 miles away, the price is about 110p per litre for petrol and 111p for diesel. In Chester, which is not a great distance away once one is on the A55, the cost is as little as 108p per litre—that is 6p cheaper. Many people commute to buy their petrol in Chester or Cheshire rather than helping the local community, because higher prices have been forced on their local areas.