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Motoring

The hon. Gentleman will be aware that any Department worth its salt has continuous discussions with the Chancellor and the Treasury, and those discussions continue on a range of taxation issues. I shall leave the matter at that, because it is a continual process. I have made it clear that fuel duty contributes to the Government's sound financial provision of services. We announced in the previous Budget that fuel duty rate would increase by 1p a litre in real terms from 2010 to 2013. The main fuel duty is a set rate that is levied on producers when the fuel leaves the refinery, and is currently 56.19p a litre. The hon. Member for Manchester, Withington (Mr. Leech) referred to lower real-terms costs for motoring today. The rate of tax is lower in real terms than it was 10 years ago. Indeed, if it had risen in line with inflation since 1999, it would be well over 60p a litre. Even after the increases announced in the Budget last year, it will be lower in real terms than it was. Fuel duty is an appropriate tool to secure public finances, and is in line with the Government's environmental agenda. It makes an important contribution to meeting our legally binding carbon budgets. As well as supporting public finances, the increases announced in last year's Budget are estimated to reduce the UK's CO2 emissions by 2 million tonnes a year by 2013-14. This is not about cash cows or stealth taxes. Apart from ensuring sound public services and public finances, it is about delivering on our environmental agenda, which is critical.