Fuel Prices

Lee Scott Excerpts

Thursday 13th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Robert Halfon]

I must say that I was disappointed by the hon. Lady’s point of order. I made it clear at the outset that this was not a party political issue, and the Minister could not have done more—in his present post, and when he was the Minister responsible for apprenticeships—to show that he cares deeply about issues of this kind.

[Mr Lee Scott (Ilford North) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend share my—

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dawn Primarolo)]

I am sorry, but I could not see who the hon. Gentleman was in order to call him, because he had turned his back to me. May I remind Members that it is important for them to face the Chair? I could not recognise him from the back of his head, but I can now call Mr Lee Scott.

[Mr Scott]

I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker, although some people do feel that that is my best side.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Last weekend, I happened to have to drive up to Manchester, and I noticed on the M1 that there was a difference of some 12p between the price of petrol in Manchester and the price in London, although the dealership was the same. Surely there can be no explanation for that. Does my hon. Friend share my concern?

[Robert Halfon]

My hon. Friend is right, and I hope that he will agree with what I shall say later.

I believe that we need to cut taxes on fuel, but given that the oil market makes up nearly half the pump price, oil companies must bear their share of the responsibility. If Members do not believe me, they should listen to what was said by the former head of Tesco, Sir Terry Leahy:

“Filling up the family car has gone up 70% in two years, causing what was a steady recovery to go sideways.”

Yes, the eurozone is a problem, and so is the overhang of debt, but it is expensive energy that is really hurting people on low incomes and crushing our economic recovery.

Secondly, turning to the oil companies, data from the Department of Energy and Climate Change quarterly energy prices release show that there is now a three-week delay between a fall in oil prices and a drop in petrol prices at the pump. However, even accounting for that, a dossier from the website I founded, petrolpromise.com, proves that cheaper oil was not passed on to UK motorists for most of the last two years. That is true of April, July, September, October, November and December 2011, and March, April, and May 2012. That is nine out of the last 18 months.