Fuel duty in remote areas

WITH the price of oil falling and prices at the petrol pumps dropping, too, Chancellor Alistair Darling presumably felt comfortable in snubbing another plea for a reduction in fuel duty in remote areas.

That does not mean the issue will go away, of course. As soon as prices start rising again they will be matched correspondingly by anger over this anomaly which affects the lives of so many people and businesses in the Highlands and other remote areas of Scotland.

They are at the mercy of suppliers who impose higher charges compared to other, more-populated parts of the country.

It does not help when people living in such areas hear about similar fuel discount schemes helping people in other countries of the EU. In Britain, road users are already the most taxed, in terms of the tariff applied in the form of fuel duty, than virtually any other country in the world.

People might think that, given the billions of taxpayers’ money it has given away to the banks in the economic crisis, the government would look sympathetically at easing the strain caused by this fuel anomaly.

Unfortunately, this is one tax that the government will cling on to however unfair it is.