Clause 13
Finance Bill
1:00 pm
Angela Eagle (Parliamentary Secretary, HM Treasury; Wallasey, Labour)
Sir Nicholas, I shall try to deal with new clause 4 and clause 13 in responding to what I thought was an interesting and revealing debate. The new clause, tabled by the hon. Member for Dundee, East, is in a state of evolution, as he was honest enough to admit when speaking to it. Finance Bills have a history of such new clauses, and I compliment him on the welcome way in which he has evolved his. I hope to persuade him, however, that although a fuel duty regulator might appear superficially attractive—I share his concerns about the cost implications, the pressures that high oil prices bring to bear on all drivers and the clear issue with hauliers—unfortunately, his approach, which he has been dutifully evolving over the years, has some major flaws.
My right hon. Friend the Chancellor demonstrated in the Budget that we are sensitive to the issues of high nominal petrol costs. Again, the hon. Gentleman was generous enough to point out that oil prices can be incredibly volatile. Since 1997, when the Government first took office, the price of a barrel of oil has continued to rise, but fuel duty has fallen—in real, not nominal, terms. Hon. Members on both sides of the Committee must bear in mind that there is no obvious connection between the price of oil in the barrel—let alone at the pumps—and the fuel duty level. To some extent, his idea for a fuel duty regulator, which he has brought before the Committee, tends to assume that there is such a connection.