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Related Tags: Fuel Rise, 3p Fuel Rise, Jobs, George Osbourne, RHA, Three Pence, FairFuelUK, Danny Alexander
Fuel campaigners relieved after fears three pence duty rise would cost 35,000 people their jobs
LAST month, campaigners for lower fuel prices made their views clear to the government that the three pence per litre fuel duty rise planned for January would cause significant hardship to thousands of people.The FairFuelUK Campaign Group - backed by The Road Haulage Association (RHA) and Freight Transport Association (FTA) - met with Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, last month to present findings of studies by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
Prices at the fuel pump have gone through the ceiling. Flickr / Boegh
The report claimed 35,000 jobs could be lost if the duty rise went ahead on January ', but if it dropped by three pence, it could create 70,000 new vacancies and boost the economy by 0.2 per cent - placing the government in a sticky situation.
"The ministers listened carefully to what we had to say," said RHA Chief Executive Geoff Dunning. "The report pulls no punches regarding the case for urgent action over fuel duty. We left the Treasury team in no doubt as to the plight of both the motorist and the haulier and it is now vital that we see a stop to an increase in January."
Some suggested postponing the planned rise for three months until next April, but now Chancellor George Osbourne has scrapped it. He suggested to 'cancel it altogether' and instead invest in 'four major new road schemes' and extend London Underground's Northern Line to Battersea Power Station and to the Olympic Park. "We are today announcing £600m more for the UK's scientific research infrastructure," he said.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls explained a strong economic recovery is still not on the horizon and families, pensioners and businesses are still feeling the squeeze.
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