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Mr. Christopher Chope (Christchurch) (Con): I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Mr. Tyrie) on his ingenuity in tabling this amendment and thereby putting the Government on the spot. Their policy on this issue is very confused. For years, they have been telling us that, in order to restrict demand for fuel in this country, they have to raise the price, and that such increases are being implemented for environmental reasons. We then had the spectacle of the Chancellor pleading with the countries of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries to increase the volume of fuel that they produce. To a simple soul such as me, that seemed incompatible with the Government's earlier approach.
 
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We must remember that we are fortunate in having a petroleum industry that delivers incredibly efficient services, which is why we have the cheapest pre-tax fuel prices in Europe. But because of the Government's taxation policy, we have by far the most expensive post-tax fuel prices in Europe. The amendment tabled by my hon. Friend amounts to relatively small beer; none the less, when motorists feel that they are being put upon by the Government, it is the straw that breaks the camel's back. As has been pointed out, the Government are gaining both from increased taxation and from the windfall resulting from the increase in the raw material price. As the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) rightly said, the Government will receive a windfall from North sea oil revenues and, as the hon. Member for Twickenham (Dr. Cable) pointed out, we should also consider the big windfall arising from the payment of VAT on the pump price.

If the Government accepted the amendment, there would be no overall loss of revenue because they will in any case be making those windfall gains. Perhaps that is why the Chancellor was able to suggest that the Government might think again about increasing the price of fuel in the autumn. However, as with most things that this Government are doing, I suspect that it has more to do with the possible situation in the autumn. The Prime Minister has made it clear that he might want to run for cover and have an early general election, if he thinks that he can get away with it. He has instructed the Cabinet to clear the decks and one way to avoid the embarrassment associated with imposing a fuel price hike during a general election campaign is for the Government to make the announcement that they suggested they might make. The amendment enables us to get the Government to come clean on this issue. Instead of giving off-the-record briefings to sympathetic journalists, they should be up-front and tell the House exactly what they have in mind.

We should remind our constituents of the very high fuel taxes and overall taxes on motorists, which have gone up from some £31 billion when this Government took office to some £44 billion. Precious little of that is actually being spent on the road infrastructure. Yesterday's feeble announcement, which was grandly entitled "Roads Policy", amounted merely to a consultation document on the possible widening of the M6, using private finance rather than taxpayers' money, and extra lanes for those with chauffeurs, so that they can gain an advantage over the ordinary motorist who cannot afford a chauffeur. The announcement covered up the fact that, while raising these extra revenues from the motorist, this Government are failing to deliver improved services.

As I have said before in this House, one reason why more people are being killed on our roads under this Government is that they have failed to invest in engineering improvements on our highways. It has long been recognised that there are three elements to reducing accidents and increasing road safety: education, engineering and enforcement—

Mr. Speaker: Order. As the hon. Gentleman might know, the amendment is somewhat tighter than that. He is going wide of it.
 
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Mr. Chope: I certainly accept, Mr. Speaker, that I am getting carried away in my enthusiasm for articulating the concerns of the motorist. Motorists have to pay these extra taxes, but they are getting nothing in return. My hon. Friend the Member for Chichester has suggested that the Government are being coy about this issue because they want to use the extra revenue to fund the black hole in their figures and their extra borrowing. But it is clear from what has been said that they will in any event make a windfall profit from the increase in the price of Brent crude, which is likely to stay high.

The amendment is modest, and in that regard I am attracted by much of the argument of the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan. There is indeed a case for going much further, but my hon. Friend the Member for Chichester is making a modest proposal in the hope that we can persuade the Government to accept it. My constituents and I will certainly be very disappointed if this modest amendment is not accepted.

Mr. Michael Weir (Angus) (SNP): It will come as no great surprise to discover that I agree with the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond). I have some reservations about amendment No. 17, which states that, if the price of Brent crude stays

"above 37.84 US dollars . . . for a period of fourteen days, the Chancellor of the Exchequer shall make regulations".

I wonder whether that is really strong enough, because when fuel prices start to rise, what is required is quick action.

The recent spike in fuel prices has had a devastating effect on many parts of the rural economy. In areas such as my own, petrol has gone up by well in excess of 20p a gallon in a very short time. Such an increase affects everything. It affects private motorists such as us, who need our cars to get about in rural areas because the alternative transport infrastructure simply is not there. It is all very well to argue on environmental grounds that we should take the train or the bus; that is fine if such transport exists and can get people to where they want to go, when they want to go there. I can take a train from Montrose to Arbroath, or a bus from Montrose to Brechin, but I cannot get from Brechin to the top of Glenisla. We need to travel all around our constituencies and many of our constituents have to do the same in the course of their occupations.

Worse still, the fuel price rise affects everything that has to be transported around our constituencies. For example, shop goods have to be transported by road because there is no alternative. A spike in the fuel price means that everything, including the loaf of bread in the local shop, goes up because such increases have to be passed on to the consumer.

We are told that this is an environmentally sound policy, but I am not sure what is environmentally sound about adding to rural depopulation. I read an interesting article in The Times during the oil price hike. I hope that it was tongue-in-cheek, but it argued that, if people living in rural areas could not afford the price of petrol, they should move to the cities. That is a terrible indictment of how rural areas are seen by some metropolitan areas. Rising oil prices affect us greatly.

Fuel tax is a huge part of the price of petrol. What interested me about the recent hike in oil prices was the speed at which the price at the pumps went up, following
 
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the increase in the price of oil in the international markets. I am no oil expert, but I imagine that there is a time gap between buying oil and the international market refining it and selling it on as petrol. I cannot help wondering whether there has been profiteering by some of the oil companies, which is a wider issue that the Government should examine.

The level of fuel duty is important. In my view, it must be brought down in rural areas. As pointed out to the Government on many occasions, provision exists under European law for derogations to allow lower fuel taxes in rural and remote areas where road travel is an essential service. That has been used very successfully in the Greek islands, but not in the islands or remote highland areas of Scotland. [Interruption.] My hon. Friend the Member for Banff and Buchan reminds me that Greece went on to win Euro 2004, so perhaps there is a huge impetus for Scotland to follow suit if we can revive our football team.

Joking aside, this is a serious issue, because the cost of transport in rural areas is so large. In the island areas of Scotland, it is even larger and derogations could be used to help overcome the problem. The Government should look further into using derogations from fuel duty in certain defined areas and deal with the activities of oil companies. I do not share the faith of the hon. Member for Christchurch (Mr. Chope), who spoke about the oil companies. There has been an element of profiteering, as the price has gone up instantly at the pumps when the oil price has increased in the international market. It could be argued that the point is to level up the prices over a period, but more should be done to examine what is going on.

Just a few oil companies govern petrol in this country and it was interesting to note that the supermarket chains were able to bring the price down again very quickly. Only then did the oil companies follow suit. It is a complex matter and fuel duty is at its heart. The Government should do more to look into what is going on, because the problem is a matter of huge concern in rural areas. That will continue, as oil prices are rising again. We were told that the last spike was the result of terrorist raids in Saudi Arabia. We are now told that the price could rise substantially because of the problems of the Yukos oil company in Russia and as a result of incidents in parts of the middle east. Our whole economy is affected and the Government must get it right if they are to avoid serious problems.

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