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Finance (No. 4) Bill

I intend to make only a short speech, concentrating on fuel prices. Plaid Cymru has been consistent in calling for a fuel duty regulator to prevent unexpected spikes in prices that cost users at the pump and are then pocketed by the Treasury. Figures for November 2011 from the Office for National Statistics showed that the poorest 20% of households spend twice as much of their disposable income—nearly 4%—on petrol duty as the richest 20%, who pay less than 2%. We already know that rural families spend hundreds of pounds more on petrol than urban families, so constituents in rural Wales, where there are lower incomes, are being hit by a double whammy. Since 2005, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National party have called for a fuel duty regulator, through which an advance estimate of UK tax returns would be made. If prices rose faster than expected, a price cap would be introduced, so there would be no windfall tax for the Government. In 2005 and 2008, Labour voted against our amendments, while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstained. In 2011, it was the other way round. At least this place is consistent, no matter who is in government. The Federation of Small Businesses has published proposals for a stability mechanism in the last few weeks; the Treasury should at least look at it.