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1 in 10 SMEs making staff redundant due to high fuel prices

By / 10 years ago / Latest News / No Comments

That’s the finding of a recent poll by FairFuelUK, which is continuing its call to the Chancellor to cut Fuel Duty appreciably in the Budget. 

FairFuelUK and the RAC Foundation prove yet again why this "venomous tax" needs to be reduced. Petrol and Diesel are essential resources for the massive majority of the UK. Almost 17 million are dependent on cars to undertake the daily commute. The 60% tax taken on such a necessary resource is punishing, socially restrictive, job affecting and hits middle to lower income families plus small to medium sized businesses the cruellest.  

The poll across 25,000 members of the public and 2,000 SMEs found that 90% in jobs said they have to use their car to go to work and 44% also use their vehicle at work itself. 60% use their car every single day. 87% of respondents said their current cost of living is worse compared to last year because of high prices at the pump. 1 in 4 are now spending less on food in order to pay for petrol and diesel. 

Meanwhile 64% of the SMEs said that a significant cut in fuel duty would help increase their profits and as a consequence they could therefore plan a more secure future as viable businesses if there were lower pump prices. 72% said they would vote for an MP that supported a 10p cut in fuel duty. 93% said they wanted to see Fuel Duty and VAT shown on all petrol/diesel receipts. 

Howard Cox, co-founder of the FairFuelUK Campaign, said: ‘The Treasury has to stop tinkering at the edges of recent fuel duty taxation initiatives and instead, get a brave grip on slashing it now! They still have not refuted FairFuelUK's long standing economic research from the CEBR and NIESR that demonstrate that a significant cut in Fuel Duty will generate new jobs, stimulate GDP and continue to reduce inflation. A substantial cut will help with the economy, enormously engender national confidence and as a result spawn alternative tax revenue to help bring the deficit down. It's a no brainer for everyone except those in Whitehall.’

 

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.