Hydrocarbon Oil etc.

Part of Orders of the Day — Finance Bill – in the House of Commons at 12:00 am on 4 July 1979.

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Photo of Mr David Stoddart Mr David Stoddart , Swindon 12:00, 4 July 1979

That would be the best possible solution, but I am afraid that that is asking too much.

The price of petrol has risen by 32p to 35p per gallon, which is an enormous increase. But it is even worse in some areas. My local newspaper, the Swindon Evening Advertiser, reported earlier this week that in Farringdon a garage was charging £1·41 per gallon. The garage owner explained that it was not his doing. He was a small business man and he did not want to charge his customers that price. However, because the Government had refused to do anything about allocation of fuel the garage proprietor could not get supplies from his normal source, and had to buy from independent sources, making his profit margin less than it would have been. Because of the inactivity of the Government in controlling the distribution of petrol and oil, not only do people in various parts of the country have to pay exorbitant prices, but those who supply the petrol are in danger of bankruptcy. They are the very people who voted Conservative and are the very people about whom the Conservatives expressed so much concern—the small business men.