The petition which I lodged calling for cuts in fuel duty has reached the 100,000 signature count required to trigger a full MPs debate on the issue.
It crossed the 100,000 signature point at 7.45pm on Friday 30th September 2011.
I have championed this in the House of Commons and am delighted that it has only taken since the end of July to reach 100,000 signatures.
This shows the strength of feeling there is for this issue. Cutting fuel duty now must be a priority for the Chancellor, over and above the clamour to cut taxes for millionaires.
Rip-off petrol and diesel prices are now so high they are a poverty trap, keeping people on benefits as job-seekers can’t afford to travel. Many businesses are struggling to stay afloat.
And to those do-gooders who say we shouldn't be using cars, I say ‘get in the real world’. In Harlow, the question is not whether can you afford to have a car - but whether can you afford not to.
In the debate, I will be arguing for an immediate cut in Fuel Duty and I will be pressing four additional key points:
1 - Whilst acknowledging the welcome 1p cut in Fuel Duty in the last Budget, we will be urging the Government to scrap the two inflationary Fuel Duty rises planned for next year.2 - Demanding that the Government put more pressure on the oil companies to lower prices at the pump given the fall in International oil prices.
3 - Urging the Government to set up a Royal Commission to look at long-term prices of petrol which have currently become unsustainable.
4 - Examining how the Government release Oil Stocks from the strategic reserves, as there is evidence that the banks brought up supplies, and then stored them at sea, in order to keep oil prices high.
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