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Fuel Duty (Rural Areas)

Like others, I congratulate the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Carmichael). I represent a large rural constituency, although it is on the mainland. Even though my constituency is only the size of Luxembourg, unlike constituencies in other parts of Scotland, which are the size of Belgium, I have seen the pressure that the price differential has put on rural petrol stations. I do not totally blame the Government for that, and there are major issues for the oil companies to address. We are talking about people not just travelling 40 or 50 miles to fill up their petrol tanks, but filling up their tanks in hub communities throughout rural areas when they go to work or go shopping. That is where we see the serious knock-on effect. I want to make one or two points to reinforce some of the arguments that have been made. The Office of Fair Trading—what a disappointment! It would not know a market failure in rural and remote communities if one came up and slapped it in the face. There have been two investigations, and I had issues with the OFT a few years ago about how the price differential was working in rural communities. The OFT needs to get out and about to understand exactly what is happening in some rural communities and to see how the oil companies are not helping matters. I ask the Minister to look at the derogation. I appreciate that there are many practical difficulties with instituting a pilot in mainland communities, but I see no reason why it would not be possible to institute one in self-contained communities that can be reached only after a five-hour ferry journey or, in the case of Shetland, a 13-hour ferry journey. The Treasury would gain great respect in such communities if it looked at ways of assisting their economies. I hope that it will consider the pleas that have been made here and in the Scottish Parliament, including by my Labour colleague, Des McNulty, who was quoted by the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland. I hope that the Treasury will look at ways of using existing legislation to manage petrol and fuel prices more equitably in remote and rural communities. As has been said, we are not talking about vast drains on Treasury income or a massive raid on Treasury coffers. These are small island communities of 10,000 people or fewer. We are simply asking for a scheme to be considered in Scotland, Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom. If we cannot get a solution for my rural community, I hope that we will at least see some movement as a result of the debate.