A ‘fair fuel stabiliser’?

The more you look at this “stabiliser” the more it seems like a rather distant relation of the “fair fuel stabiliser” neatly worked out by George Osborne’s father in law, Lord Howell. The government does not find a notional fair price and try to stabilise things around that price. Fuel duty, under the original stabiliser plan, fell when oil prices were high. Under George Osborne’s scheme, fuel duty rises by inflation. The inflation increase forgone this year hits motorists on 1st Jan 2012 and the April 2012 increase hits in August 2012 … so long-suffering motorists are hit with TWO increases in fuel duty next year.

This is, by the way, the first time fuel duty has been cut since the fuel blockades in 2001(3p off unleaded) … in peace-time, so to speak, everyone pretty much thought they’d disappeared off the Treasury menu.