Moray MP Angus Robertson is calling on the UK Government to freeze fuel duty at the 2016 Budget.

SNP MPs, including Moray MP Angus Robertson, are calling on the UK Government to freeze fuel duty at the 2016 Budget.

The call – backed by campaigners FairFuelUK – follows warning signs that the Chancellor is planning to hike up the petrol tax in a cash-grab on families and motorists to fill a black hole in his Budget. Tax currently makes up 70 per cent of the total price of a tank of petrol or diesel.

Local MP Mr Robertson has long said the high fuel tax unduly penalises areas like Moray where car use is a necessity and not a luxury. The high level of tax also disadvantages businesses in more rural areas, who have further to get their goods to market.

Commenting, Moray SNP MP Angus Robertson said:

“Now is the wrong time for a hike in fuel duty - after six years of George Osborne’s failed stewardship the UK economy continues to be in a precarious position and such a move would damage economic recovery.

“Raising the price of petrol and diesel now would be bad for areas like Moray and bad for the economy as a whole. We need support for households and for businesses. A raid on fuel duty by the Chancellor would squeeze the pockets of families, those in rural communities that depend on a car, and raise costs for small businesses - it would put at risk crucial economic growth and job creation.”

Backing the SNP call for a freeze on fuel duty, Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuelUK, said:

“It would be economic lunacy to hike fuel duty, when it is already the most punitive in the EU. FairFuelUK have shown repeatedly that the economic evidence supports a real cut in duty resulting in real fiscal benefits for the UK. This evidence is even endorsed by the Chancellor’s own Department. The Chancellor must not make a quick cash grab on fuel duty, and we support and are very grateful for the SNP’s efforts to oppose any rise in duty in this year’s Budget.”