Pressure mounts on politicians to address the cost of fuel

The RAC has called on all major political parties to say in the run-up to the next general election what they intend to do about four key transport concerns – the high cost of fuel, the poor state of the UK’s roads, the need for better enforcement of driving behaviour, and the issue of expensive and inadequate parking facilities.

The organisation has written to the leaders of all the main parties setting out its concerns in anticipation of them being addressed in their election manifestos.

In terms of the cost of fuel, the RAC said: “Freezing of fuel duty and stable world oil prices have taken some of the sting out of the issue but it remains a huge drain. As committed supporters of FairFuelUK, the RAC believes there is a strong case for a further immediate 3ppl reduction in fuel duty to sustain economic growth.”

The RAC’s call has been backed by FairFuelUK (FFUK) itself, which earlier this week launched a new online poll aimed at the general public to determine what road-related issues are of greatest concern to voters and which politicians they believe are most in tune with the UK’s 32m road users.

FFUK co-founder Howard Cox told Motortransport.co.uk the organisation would be attending all three main party political conferences later this year, as well as conducting a second similar poll via independent research firm ComRes, and launching its own road user manifesto in September. It has also approached all the major UK parties, including UKIP, to see where they stand in their understanding of road users’ needs, he said.

Rating the chances of getting a firm commitment from any of the political parties to a 3ppl duty cut as 50:50, Cox said: “Some MPs are telling us we have the best chance ever because of the imminent election.”

“FFUK is gearing up for a very busy nine months in the lead up to the election,” he added.