UK Parliament / Open data

Fuel Costs

Opposition day on Monday, 7 February 2011, in the House of Commons, led by Stewart Hosie. The answering member was Justine Greening.
Unallotted opposition day debate (half day), on a motion in the name of the Leader of the Scottish National Party and Leader of Plaid Cymru. Main question negatived on division (14 to 303). Amendment agreed to on division (297 to 135). Main question, as amended, agreed to.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
523 c43-97 
Session
2010-12
Department
Treasury
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Justine Greening | 523 c57-8 (3-4MC) (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman will be aware of the Goodison review and that the Scotland Bill is...
Speaker | 523 c67 (Link to this contribution) Order. This has proved to be a popular debate, and nine Members have indicated that they wish to par...

Show all contributions (166)
Stewart Hosie | 523 c77 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend talks about the dearth of opinion on the Labour Front Bench. Might that be a conseque...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c76-7 (Link to this contribution) I shall try to be brief to allow my hon. Friend the Member for Angus (Mr Weir) to get in. Simply pu...
Alan Reid | 523 c77 (Link to this contribution) What the hon. Gentleman is saying about the previous Labour Government is perfectly correct, but doe...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c77 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely. Labour was against a fuel duty regulator, a rural fuel derogation and anything else that...
George Freeman | 523 c78 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for this opportunity to speak in the debate, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Du...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c77-8 (Link to this contribution) I certainly do have the decency to recognise that. I am very pleased that that announcement was made...
George Freeman | 523 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) We can debate that another day. The hon. Gentleman and his colleagues spoke eloquently about the ne...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c78 (Link to this contribution) May I just say to the hon. Gentleman that I do not have a brogue or an accent? It is he who has the ...
Stephen Phillips | 523 c75-6 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that my hon. Friend the Minister will take into account the views from Derbyshire. I do no...
Heather Wheeler | 523 c75 (Link to this contribution) Could my hon. and learned Friend expand on the rural areas in England suffering with high fuel price...
George Freeman | 523 c79-80 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. On the wider economy, fuel inflation in rural areas not on...
Claire O'Neill | 523 c80 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that we need a sustainable solution, one that will work in bad times as we...
Rory Stewart | 523 c79 (Link to this contribution) May I make a plea to my hon. Friend to include a mention of dairy and livestock farmers, as they are...
Mike Weir | 523 c81 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way at the moment. Many of my constituents have to travel to work, and they have no...
Mark Tami | 523 c81 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making a powerful case. Does he agree that those same areas are also being har...
Mike Weir | 523 c81 (Link to this contribution) Indeed; I will come to that point later if I have time. It is not only the businesses but their emp...
George Freeman | 523 c80 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. It is vital that we should not go for some short-term gimmi...
Mike Weir | 523 c80-1 (Link to this contribution) There has been a change since the general election. We spent the last Parliament trying to persuade ...
Jim McGovern | 523 c81 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way on this point?
Mike Weir | 523 c81 (Link to this contribution) I want to finish the point; I will give way to the hon. Gentleman in a moment. As I mentioned in an...
Jim McGovern | 523 c81 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way. I must say first that I was disappointed that the hon. Me...
Mike Weir | 523 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is bringing irrelevancies into this; we are talking about the real problems that ...
Viscount Thurso | 523 c84-5 (Link to this contribution) I am, in fact, presenting the Minister with a novel suggestion which I hope he will consider in the ...
Jonathan Edwards | 523 c85-7 (Link to this contribution) Diolch, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am delighted to have the opportunity to close the debate on behalf o...
Jim McGovern | 523 c82 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman have time to give way again?
Mike Weir | 523 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) No, I do not. There are real problems with fuel prices and they are strangling business in rural ar...
Viscount Thurso | 523 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) There are two issues in the debate, which I would like to try to disaggregate. One is the high premi...
Albert Owen | 523 c84 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the principle of a stabiliser. However, the Government talk of having ““inherited”” the...
Albert Owen | 523 c87 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Stephen Phillips) is not in his seat, bu...
Brian Binley | 523 c89 (Link to this contribution) I have a message for the Economic Secretary from hauliers in my constituency, such as Wrefords and B...
David Gauke | 523 c89 (Link to this contribution) I will turn to the stabiliser in a moment. My hon. Friend has touched on a point that my hon. Friend...
Jonathan Edwards | 523 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a strong point. I am sure that the Assembly Member for his area, who is a m...
David Gauke | 523 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting debate, and I thank all hon. Members who have contributed. Fuel prices ...
David Gauke | 523 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) The two particular areas we have debated today are the fuel stabiliser and the rural fuel duty rebat...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c90 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows that I really welcome the rural fuel derogation and hope it comes soon. Wil...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c89 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Minister the question that I have asked repeatedly in this debate: why should people who l...
David Gauke | 523 c90-1 (Link to this contribution) As the Economic Secretary stated, the Government are engaged in informal conversations with the Euro...
Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 523 c73 (Link to this contribution) I support what the hon. Lady says about islands and remote communities, and I support a fuel duty di...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c73 (Link to this contribution) We have heard a lot this afternoon about the need for the Treasury to balance its books, and about t...
Stephen Phillips | 523 c73-4 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting debate for a number of reasons. However, I begin by apologising to the ...
Guy Opperman | 523 c74 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. and learned Friend think that it was right for the leader of the Labour party to indica...
Stephen Phillips | 523 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) I have not seen the comments made by the right hon. Member for Doncaster North (Edward Miliband). Ho...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c67 (Link to this contribution) I want to conclude now. I have taken quite a lot of interventions, and hon. Members will have the op...
Justine Greening | 523 c66 (Link to this contribution) I am trying to follow the hon. Lady's argument, but it is not clear to me. Will she confirm whether ...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c66 (Link to this contribution) It is up to the Economic Secretary to answer the questions. We are certainly interested in the conve...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c66 (Link to this contribution) For clarity, will the hon. Lady tell us whether her party is saying no to a derogation and no to a s...
David Morris | 523 c67-8 (Link to this contribution) I will keep it short, Mr Deputy Speaker. We all know why we are having this debate today—the extort...
Lord Murphy of Torfaen | 523 c68 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the debate, and the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie) made a powerful speech. It...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c72 (Link to this contribution) I have listened with great interest to this afternoon's debate. I intend to limit my remarks to aspe...
Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 523 c71 (Link to this contribution) I recall the debate and vote on that proposal. Parts of my constituency are similar to the hon. Gent...
Alan Reid | 523 c71-2 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I agree with the hon. Lady. I hope that a stabiliser formula for the whole country can be found...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c70 (Link to this contribution) When does the hon. Gentleman hope to see the rural fuel derogation in action on the Inner Hebrides?
Alan Reid | 523 c70-1 (Link to this contribution) I hope that the scheme will be implemented as soon as possible, and that it can be extended to remot...
Alan Reid | 523 c70 (Link to this contribution) Representing a sparsely populated rural constituency, I am only too aware of the severe impact of th...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c73 (Link to this contribution) Had the hon. Gentleman been here earlier, he would have heard that point addressed in previous contr...
Jim McGovern | 523 c72-3 (Link to this contribution) May I say that I am sorry, Madam Deputy Speaker, that I was not here at the beginning of the debate?...
Albert Owen | 523 c72 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is quite right to point out that those in peripheral or rural areas pay more because t...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c61 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. He was speaking on behalf of his colleagues in the more remo...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c61 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Lady for saying that I made a powerful case, but Dundee East is very much an urban ...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c61 (Link to this contribution) If I can adopt the mantra that the hon. Member for Dundee East first used and the Minister then pick...
Justine Greening | 523 c61 (Link to this contribution) To clarify matters, is the formal Labour party position that the fuel duty rise should now go on hol...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c62 (Link to this contribution) Those matters were also affected by fuel prices at the time, but it is not my position to apologise ...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) It suddenly strikes me that, when the Labour Government had their fiscal stimulus policy, they cut V...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c62 (Link to this contribution) I will deal with the rural fuel derogation and the problems that we see in implementing it later in ...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c62 (Link to this contribution) Is there any tinge of regret among Labour Members that for at least four years the previous Governme...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c62 (Link to this contribution) As I said, I am coming on to the derogation, but it is not my place to express such opinions. In pr...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c62 (Link to this contribution) If we are talking about glossing over, I feel that the hon. Lady glossed over my question. Will she ...
Alan Reid | 523 c63 (Link to this contribution) Yes, that issue must be considered, but the whole point of a pilot scheme is to enable us to work ou...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c63 (Link to this contribution) No, I was referring to my right hon. Friend the Member for Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (Yve...
Justine Greening | 523 c63 (Link to this contribution) Was the Chief Secretary who referred to economic illiteracy the same Chief Secretary who left us, as...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) I would like to make some progress. There are other concerns about the stabiliser. The then Liberal...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c65 (Link to this contribution) I remind the hon. Lady that the OBR's press notice was clear that the temporary £10 rise would deliv...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c64 (Link to this contribution) What I am saying is that a correlation between oil price movements and revenue has not been establis...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c64 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady seems to be labouring under a misapprehension. The fuel duty regulator would temper sp...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c63-4 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that intervention, but I am talking about the fuel duty stabiliser. I...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c65 (Link to this contribution) The new head of the OBR, Robert Chote, said in an interview about a week ago that its analysis"““sug...
Justine Greening | 523 c65 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady says that there has been no engagement, which is completely wrong. Only about three we...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) The Economic Secretary says that as though I were the one saying that there had been no engagement. ...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c57 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has been very generous indeed. She asks us to welcome the actions that the Government ...
Justine Greening | 523 c57 (Link to this contribution) I will give way one last time, and then I shall make a little progress. I have been generous in taki...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c58 (Link to this contribution) Is it intended that at a future date the derogation pilots should extend to other rural and remote p...
Simon Hart | 523 c58 (Link to this contribution) As part of the derogation, will my hon. Friend please make sure that the definition of ““rural”” is ...
Justine Greening | 523 c58 (Link to this contribution) We have yet to decide the exact scope of the pilots. I assume from her question that the hon. Lady w...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 523 c59 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister, who is being very generous. The House will forgive me if I do not join in the ...
Justine Greening | 523 c58 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a relevant point. One of the reasons that our initial discussions with the Euro...
Justine Greening | 523 c60 (Link to this contribution) I can only reiterate what I have just said, which is that we are considering the exact scope of the ...
Baroness Clark of Kilwinning | 523 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) The Minister has taken a number of interventions, which we are grateful for. I have written to her a...
Elfyn Llwyd | 523 c59 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister recall that when the fuel duty escalator first came in, it was meant to be a green...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c61 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the hon. Member for Dundee East (Stewart Hosie) on making a powerful case on behalf o...
Justine Greening | 523 c60 (Link to this contribution) I think that I have been very clear on that. In opposition and in government, we have always recogni...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c60 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is being very generous. I am slightly confused, because my understanding was that it wa...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c57 (Link to this contribution) I want to ensure that the hon. Lady is aware of the importance of what the devolved Scottish Governm...
Naomi Long | 523 c56 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister recognise that this is about not only the significant issue of rurality but remote...
Justine Greening | 523 c56 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is right in that few Members in this House would not have their own particular reasons...
Mike Weir | 523 c56 (Link to this contribution) I reiterate a point that I made in last week's debate about the Department for Business, Innovation ...
Justine Greening | 523 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know that alongside those measures to support companies, particularly small ...
Lord Jackson of Peterborough | 523 c55 (Link to this contribution) The issue is not about going back into pre-history to discuss what a previous Conservative Governmen...
Justine Greening | 523 c55 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. We do not even know whether the Opposition think that going ahead with the ...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c55 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Lady agree that it would be unfair for the disproportionate burden of that tax to fall...
Justine Greening | 523 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) As I have said, the Government recognise the particular pressures that motoring costs put on people ...
Justine Greening | 523 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady wants to go back into history. The previous Labour Government left a huge fiscal defic...
Justine Greening | 523 c54 (Link to this contribution) I shall ensure that I respond to my hon. Friend on that issue. A variety of concerns about the cost ...
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c54 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the Economic Secretary wants to have a constructive debate this afternoon and does...
Justine Greening | 523 c54 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. I too remember his party, before it joined the coalition Government, ma...
Robert Halfon | 523 c54 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the debate, because hard-pressed constituents of mine, especially small businesses and fam...
Justine Greening | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso)...
Viscount Thurso | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) I think I heard the Minister quote from a letter from members of the SNP saying that they had though...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister tell us how long it has taken other Governments to proceed from the informal talks...
Justine Greening | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) Obviously it will not be a short process involving a few weeks, but I think that the hon. Gentleman ...
Justine Greening | 523 c52 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be pleased, as I have looked at the Scottish National party website today an...
Justine Greening | 523 c52 (Link to this contribution) Presumably, the hon. Gentleman wants to intervene again to welcome the efforts of the coalition Gove...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c52 (Link to this contribution) I will welcome those efforts when they bear some fruit. We had four years of shilly-shallying from L...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is asking the Scottish National party and our friends to support the Government's effor...
Justine Greening | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will be aware that the derogation will come about as the outcome of a process. He...
Mike Weir | 523 c52 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Lady and it is not my place to defend the Labour party, as we s...
Justine Greening | 523 c52 (Link to this contribution) I can assure the hon. Gentleman that I shall set out our approach to policy in this regard in the ru...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c52 (Link to this contribution) Far be it for me to draw it to the hon. Lady's attention, but since last May she has been in governm...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c46 (Link to this contribution) I believe that the SNP opposed a number of the fuel duty increases. The hon. Gentleman may have been...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) I am going to make some ground. This motion is not simply about the fuel duty regulator; it is abou...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c49 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman gets to his feet, let me remind him that when the Liberal party last propo...
Robert Halfon | 523 c46 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for giving way on this very important subject. The Government pay around ...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c46-8 (Link to this contribution) I am always surprised when otherwise articulate, able and intelligent Members do not see the whole p...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c48 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been here long enough to know that this is an Opposition day motion. If he wa...
Alan Reid | 523 c49 (Link to this contribution) Now that the Liberal Democrats are part of the Government, the hon. Gentleman should be pleased that...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c49 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to hear that the rural fuel derogation is going to happen. I cannot wait to hear that...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c49-50 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend remember just how full the Chamber used to be of Liberal Democrat Members when t...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) There are whammies after whammies, and the hon. Gentleman is right to say that the use of a car can ...
Justine Greening | 523 c51-2 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from ““House”” to the end of the Question and add:"““notes ...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c50 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend touches on an important point. It has been mentioned already that car ownership is no...
Viscount Thurso | 523 c50 (Link to this contribution) A further point that the hon. Gentleman will recall from the many debates that we have had on this s...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c50 (Link to this contribution) I have not seen that report, but those developments will clearly make things difficult in areas that...
Hywel Williams | 523 c50 (Link to this contribution) The lowest wages in Wales are in Powys, in the middle of Wales. Powys also has the highest incidence...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c50 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes his point in his own inimitable way. I have to say that I cannot remember a tim...
Mike Weir | 523 c50 (Link to this contribution) I am following with interest what my hon. Friend is saying. Did he read the report in The Guardian t...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c46 (Link to this contribution) I shall move on a little. I have been generous, and I will give way again in a little while. I was ...
Brian Binley | 523 c46 (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the hon. Gentleman for allowing me to interject a little on the question of sm...
Sajid Javid | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right to raise this issue and to talk about the impact of high fuel prices on ...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) That is absolutely right. The price is hugely inflationary in rural areas. It is also a problem in s...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes the same point that the Labour party used to make—something must be cut to ...
Mike Weir | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) I also point out that the idea that the goods can be moved by rail is flawed in any event because al...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In many parts of his constituency, goods must be moved by road. ...
Hywel Williams | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend accept that the high prices also affect rural businesses, where petrol, diesel a...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c44 (Link to this contribution) Those prices almost seem cheap now. They have gone up to £1.45 and £1.46 a litre. At Benbecula airpo...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c44 (Link to this contribution) That does not surprise me. In previous debates, after we have experienced high spikes, several Membe...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) I will come to the rural fuel derogation in the second part of my comments, but in relation to the S...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 523 c43 (Link to this contribution) It is not just the Dundee Courier; the Stornoway Gazette is admirably drawing attention to rural fue...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c43 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House notes that the oil price has reached $100 a barrel, and that diesel i...
Speaker | 523 c43 (Link to this contribution) I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister.
Kerry McCarthy | 523 c66-7 (Link to this contribution) Again, it is for the Economic Secretary to tell us what her policy is on the stabiliser and so on. W...
Naomi Long | 523 c68 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that, if there were a pilot, it would be helpful if a part of No...
Lord Murphy of Torfaen | 523 c68-70 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. When I was Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the point was always made to me that it ...
Eilidh Whiteford | 523 c72 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman. I live in rural Aberdeenshire, and at this time of year, I fully ap...
Justine Greening | 523 c59 (Link to this contribution) There is undoubtedly an environmental aspect to how fuel duty changes over time, because people do c...
Justine Greening | 523 c59 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, as ever, represents his constituents powerfully. The point I would make to him and t...
Justine Greening | 523 c53 (Link to this contribution) In that case, I can tell the hon. Gentleman how he can help. It would be helpful if his party wholeh...
Stewart Hosie | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right, and I am sure that hon. Members throughout the House will have examples of ...
Justine Greening | 523 c57 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman is taking the debate slightly wider than the wording in the motion. Howev...
Alan Reid | 523 c48 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has outlined the problem, but he has not given the solution. He has spoken for 18...
Mike Weir | 523 c45 (Link to this contribution) I very much agree with my hon. Friend. However, is not the position even worse, given that people in...
Subjects
Costs
Fuels
Economic situation
EU action
Highlands of Scotland
Petrol
Prices
Scotland
Small businesses
Taxation
Rural areas
Economic recession
Scottish islands
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