"Everybody knows that we need to cut fuel duty, but at least the Government is on the side of the motorist. They have overseen a historic freeze in fuel duty, and cut it by 1% over the last 3 years. Yet the price of petrol remains stubbornly high-it is now 60% higher than it was in January 2009, and 800,000 families spend over a quarter of their income filling up their car." (Robert Halfon MP is pictured outside No 10 holding the FairFuelUK poster)

"We are in an ‘oil shock’. Petrol prices remain high due to the global price of crude oil, which, after inflation, increased by 50% since 2009. Over the past 3 years, I have regularly raised my concerns that companies have kept the cost of fuel artificially high through a number of means, such as creating ‘petrol deserts’. And where oil prices have fallen internationally, ...

A Message from Quentin Willson: Spokesman for FairFuelUK

This isn't a good week for Government regulators. Back in September I wrote to the FSA enclosing testimony from an oil industry whistle blower who alleged that price fixing was systemic. FairFuelUK and I then met with the OFT and submitted evidence about the volatility of fuel prices and begged them to investigate oil price manipulation. Both bodies said that there was no case to answer. 

I was appalled and again met with the OFT to discuss their findings. They claimed their investigation was far-reaching and they could find no case to answer. I remember being very worried at the time when they refused to show us evidence from the oil industry or give us an idea of what sort of lobbying the oil majors had done. This opacity from an independent consumer watchdog seemed unfair. Our calls for an ...

News that EU competition authorities have raided some Oil companies and the offices of those companies that monitor and report the price of Oil is a dramatic development. At this stage, we simply don’t know where this will lead. At the very least, it clearly shows that the Oil market must be made more transparent so that we can be confident that it is working fairly. At worse, it raises the spectre that we have indeed all been ‘ripped off’ in spectacular style.

Earlier this year the UK Office of Fair Trading did an’ inquiry into whether we needed an inquiry’ in relation to the petrol/diesel market. We were extremely disappointed that based on their initial work, they decided not to carry out a full scale investigation. Our Quentin Willson also wrote to the UK Financial Services Agency asking them to look into ‘whistleblower’ claims that the Oil ...

FairFuelUK's reaction to Prime Minister’s Comments on Fuel Duty - Daily Telegraph Front page April 23rd 2013

David Cameron’s promise to ‘keep going’ suspending further fuel duty rises marks a historic victory for the FairFuelUK campaign.
(See Daily Telegraph Article: Right).  

After successfully pressurising the Government to block 13 pence worth of duty rises since March 2011, FairFuelUK welcomes this contribution to the debate by the Prime Minister who now seems to agree that even despite these duty rise cancellations ‘the price at the pump is still very high’.

FairFuelUK’s mobilisation of mass public opinion, intense lobbying of MPs, numerous meetings with Ministers and Treasury officials plus their ground-breaking economic research has changed the Government’s attitude to fuel duty in the UK and brought a clearer understanding ...

Reacting to news that 20% less petrol is purchased now compared to 5 years ago FairFuelUK spokesman Quentin Willson said: 'Petrol has become so unaffordable for so many that high prices have changed our buying patterns completely. Such a huge fall in consumption is proof that we've reached a point where consumers have had enough.’

Howard Cox, Co-founder of FairFuelUK said:'The price of petrol (and diesel) has gone way beyond acceptable and practical economic sense. The current levels of prices at the pumps are inhibiting UK growth, business investment, employment and social interaction.It's time now to listen to all the evidence and significantly cut fuel duty to stimulate the economy and motivate businesses and the public. It's plain common sense!'

Treasury minister Danny Alexander has told Commercialmotor.com he is not convinced by the economic research FairFuelUK (FFUK) presented to him last year that showed a cut in fuel duty would actually stimulate growth and create jobs.

"There are some assumptions in the National Institute of Economic & Social Research (NIESR) report that the Treasury considers to be pretty questionable; I don’t necessarily buy the analysis to be honest,” he toldCommercialmotor.com this morning during a one-to-one interview.

He added that there were some "important bits of evidence in the report” and that he had opened the door to FFUK to have further meetings with the Treasury to debate the findings of the report further.

Defending yesterday’s Budget announcement of a freeze in fuel duty instead of a cut, the minister said:  "As a country we have big economic problems. Our priority has ...

One of our key Campaign Backers, the Road Haulage Association, has highlighted the impact that a 3p per litre cut in fuel duty will have on haulage operators.

Geoff Dunning, RHA Chief Executive said;  "UK road transport operators are the people who actually keep the wheels of the economy moving. To them, diesel fuel represents the life blood without which, they are unable to function. Yet for many hauliers, high levels of fuel duty mean that diesel is fast becoming a luxury item”.

According to an RHA-funded report from the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, a fuel duty cut of 3ppl, would:

• ·Create 70,000 jobs
• ·Boost the economy by 0.2% - essential at a time when financial growth is so critical
• ·Reduce the fiscal position by £1800M – much less than the £3 billion the Treasury would expect. 

The report also clearly ...

Last Monday, we held a ‘drop in’ lobby day at Westminster. As I hope you’ll understand, things are very hectic on the FairFuelUK front as we run up to the Budget on March 20th – so apologies for a slightly slower than normal update on how the day went.

First, it’s probably worth just going over exactly what we did and why we did it. Over the last two years, FairFuelUK has built up really strong relationships with MPs from most of the Parties represented at Westminster. In the end, no matter how much campaigning we do either outside Parliament or in the media, getting the opportunity to speak ‘face to face’ with MPs is vital. Getting MPs to understand our argument and the strength of feeling from you, our supporters, is the most effective way of applying pressure to the Chancellor and other Ministers who make the ...

With just 3 weeks to the Budget, and growth still ‘flat’ we need to do all we can to persuade the Chancellor to act on Fuel Duty. The Chancellor can change the content of the Budget right up to the last few days before he stands at the dispatch box to present it to the nation.

The FairFuelUK team will be in Westminster next Monday, March 4th to talk to as many MPs as possible. We will be asking them to lobby for a Fuel Duty cut on your behalf. It would be hugely helpful if you could email your MP to ask them to attend our event. It’s vital that we get the chance to see as many MPs as possible.

Clicking the link at the end of this email will produce a simple form that allows you to enter your postcode. It then highlights the name ...

Quentin Willson of FairFuelUK said, ‘We are now staring into an economic abyss. There is huge frustration in households and businesses across the country that our politicians cannot see that economic growth will remain a distant dream when most families are spending the greater part of their disposable income just to fill up the family car. Hundreds of thousands of businesses that rely on vans and trucks are seeing high fuel costs destroy their margins. They cannot invest for jobs and growth. In April 2011, two years ago, the Chancellor took the bold decision to cut fuel duty by 1p. In his words, he said it was to put ‘fuel in the tank of the British economy’. This major loss of the top AAA rating means he needs to cut it again - but this time by a significant amount’.

Peter Carroll of FairFuelUK said, ‘Survey after survey, ...