A letter coordinated by Tory MP Jonathan Gullis shows that between October 10th and December 8th petrol prices fell just three per cent, despite wholesale costs tumbling by 22 per cent. Diesel prices hardly changed as the wholesale cost plunged by 25 per cent.
In the letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt, Dame Andrea Leadsom MP, says there should be a PumpWatch Commissioner. She repeats what she had already told the Leader of the House at Business Questions on December 1st: “…it’s time for the Government to debate FairFuelUK’s excellent idea for a new PumpWatch Commissioner to monitor and stop bad practice on garage forecourts.”
Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt, responded from the Despatch Box: “The Government are looking into this, and I join her in commending the work of FairFuelUK, which has done a huge amount to champion the rights of motorists and to remind us that holding fuel duty, and cutting it where we can, is good for the economy.”
MPs signed the letter of 22nd December, that can be viewed at https://fairfueluk.com/pumpwatch-letter-final.pdf.
Dame Andrea Leadsom says: “I hope the government will look seriously at FairFuelUK’s proposal for a Pump Watch Commissioner to make sure customers are paying a fair price at the pump, and that the Chancellor will continue the welcome fuel duty freezes of the last decade.”
Jonathan Gullis MP says: ”PumpWatch will be a popular antidote to inflationary pressure. It will cost the Government very little to implement and simply involve a small team of analysts headed by the independent consumer fuel campaigning expert, Howard Cox. PumpWatch is not complicated but its implementation could restore confidence in Britain’s appalling opaque fuel market.”
Craig Mackinlay MP and Chair of the Fair Fuel APPG said: “Wholesale oil prices are way down from historic highs but the price at the pump has moved down by mere buttons. It is now even more obvious that motorists are being fleeced by the fuel retailers and it’s time for a ‘Pumpwatch’ price monitor to highlight the truth and bring such blatant profiteering to heel.”
Sun newspaper, November 3rd 2022.
Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuelUK says: “For years and years there’s been a foul stench of sickening exploitation hanging around thousands of garage forecourts, despite falling wholesale and oil costs. We should be seeing fuel price signposts across the country, 10-20p per litre lower for diesel and petrol. What’s more, this surprisingly and increasingly anti-motorist Tory administration seems to be sitting back, dare I say it, almost encouraging the fuel supply chain to continue to fleece drivers at the pumps. Don’t forget the billions of extra VAT pouring into the Treasury due to eye watering pump prices. PumpWatch is way past critical, to stop the fuel supply chain continually fleecing motorists at will.”
Since 2010 FairFuelUK has saved drivers over £160bn in planned tax hikes in duty and VAT through constructive and objective campaigning. Had FairFuelUK not campaigned to scrap the fuel duty escalator, fuel tax today would be 90p/lt rather than 57.95p/lt. Because of the Campaign, inflation is down 6.7% and £24bn has been put back into consumer spending each and every year since 2011.
Main Image: Martin Bodman / Crediton: Shell petrol station at Station Cross / CC BY-SA 2.0
