The Spectator

A fair tax

There is something about the Fuel Lobby’s planned protests that makes it hard to extend our full sympathy

It is tempting to sympathise with the hoary mob of farmers and hauliers, collectively known as the Fuel Lobby, who as we go to press are threatening to blockade motorways and oil refineries in an attempt to force the government to cut the duty on petrol and diesel. As we have frequently argued in these pages, Gordon Brown’s eight-year programme of stealthy tax rises has raided our pockets, yet failed to produce any corresponding improvements in public services. Given that the farmers and hauliers have provided the most vociferous and powerful protest against Labour’s excessive taxation, it is easy to understand why ordinary motorists should be moved to toot in solidarity.

We certainly support the argument that Gordon Brown should react to the current spike in global oil prices by temporarily reducing petrol duty or, better still, by devising a different system of fuel taxation which permanently addresses the problem of surges in oil prices. Under the current system, as the price of petrol rises, so too does the government’s revenue. That is wrong, because it exacerbates movements in volatile oil prices, thereby subjecting the economy to unnecessary mood swings. Rather, the Chancellor should devise a duty regime that evens out movements in global oil prices, slightly reducing duty when the price goes up and slightly increasing it when the price goes down.

Yet there is something about the Fuel Lobby’s planned protests that makes it hard to extend our full sympathy. For one thing, the tactics employed by the fuel protesters are borrowed from the bolshie trade unionists of the 1970s, and will bring great inconvenience to the public and to business. For another, it is by no means clear why farmers and hauliers should feel especially aggrieved by Gordon Brown’s fuel tax regime.

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