Dear Alistair Darling – Please Cut Fuel Duty by 10p in Tomorrow’s Pre Budget Report

Newspapers, Journalists, Web, TV and all other media writers are currently preoccupied by what Alistair Darling is going to announce tomorrow in his Pre Budget Report.  The consensus is that it will be a spending led budget, looking to increase public spending, domestic spending and business spending, in the hope the kick start the UK Economy.

The policies & changes need to be about putting money back into the pockets of the people and businesses who are most likely to spend it.  This is a particular necessity given that the multi million pounds given to the banks for the same reason has just resulted in them putting the funds back into their coffers to protect them from the next rainy day.

So we have one policy suggestion for Alistair Darling that will help people on low incomes, help the ordinary hardworking family, help small businesses and help UK industry in general.

Fuel Duty Cut by 10p per Litre.

Although this would be contrary to the Environmental lobbying surrounding the Transport Industry, it could be one of the most cohesive and across the board positive policies to help the UK fight the recession and the credit crunch.

• A Cut in fuel duty would increase the pounds in the pocket for most UK families.  And it’s not a policy that disproportionately favours the higher earners.  For lower earners fuel takes up a proportionately larger part of the household income, so this is a fair and equitable way to cut taxes.
• It would reduce one of the larger costs of most UK small businesses.
• The costs of Deliveries would be cheaper, the fuel surcharges levied by most parcel carriers could be reduced.
• The “Carriage” and “delivery” costs represent up to 40% of the retail price of many items sold in the shops.  Cutting fuel prices will work through to cheaper costs all round.
• Particularly with regard to British grown and produced food, where fuel costs are a large part of the costs of production.
• Industries such as the Road Haulage Industry, the Light Goods carriers, couriers, parcel carriers, taxi companies will all see an immediate impact, and as “middlemen” this all gets passed on up the chain all the way to the consumers.

And most important of all – the “feel good factor”.

Don’t underestimate the importance of the feel good factor, the last thing that office workers need when they leave their offices late at night is an absence of Taxi Drivers, and a reduced bus service timetable.  The last thing Christmas shoppers need is a reason not to drive into town to buy presents. 

 

Cutting Fuel Duty is simply a refund for the overpayment we made during the summer.

In the Spring & Summer months, UK households and businesses paid massive amounts of additional fuel duty, spurred on by the % based levies on rapidly increasing oil costs.

Cutting fuel duty now would be a simple reimbursement of the additional amounts that we overpaid during the summer months. 

 

Environmental v Economic Arguments

The environmentalists may argue that such a drastic cut in fuel duty could cause massive detriment to achieving the carbon emission reductions that have been targeted.  Our argument though would be that there should be a whole policy & strategy in place to achieve reduced emmissions, and a reliance upon fuel duty as a big stick to hit motorist with isn’t a strategy.

The recession and the credit crunch have shown both UK businesses and households just how easy it is to incorporate energy saving methods into their daily lives.  This doesn’t need to change simply because the cost of fuel has gone down.  Instead it should be demonstrated that if people carrying using the alternative transport methods, wiser car buying, and other fuel saving techniques then this gives them the opportunity for the fuel duty cut to put real cash in their pockets.

So….

 

Dear Alistair Darling,

We as ordinary households, owners and employees of the UK’s small businesses, are writing to you to urge a 10p cut in fuel duty, for the purposes of helping low income households, and small businesses that are trying hard to continue business during these testing economic circumstances………….

(Image from www.taxthefish.com)