MPs and Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuelUK respond to yet another leaked predictable rumour that Fuel Duty is to rise in the Budget to pay off the Covid Bill. Despite UK drivers still being the highest taxed in the world (https://fairfueluk.com/Fuel-Tax-EU.png) for average petrol and diesel tax takes, the Chancellor is bullying his Tory MPs to support a rise in Fuel Duty in the Budget. He knows the 10 years duty freeze has reduced the CPI by 6.7% and raised household real incomes, especially those of poorest households, by £24bn. It would be a massive political folly to listen toRead Whole Article

Brighton and Hove’s Left Wing Climate Assembly tackles traffic but ignores any input from respected driver groups Brighton & Hove City Council’s climate assembly has endored reducing city centre traffic but voiced scepticism about road user charging, and expressed mixed views about reducing city centre parking. The council employed Ipsos MORI to design and deliver the assembly, which focused specifically on transport and travel. Invitations were sent to 10,000 households and 700 applied, from which 50 members were selected. Each participant was paid £250. The Sortition Foundation assisted in the selection process.  The assembly was delivered through five online sessionsRead Whole Article

The tables are based on 11,947 responses received in 48 hours and has been put together in time for the Mail on Sunday. The Survey has been open to all road users including cyclists. The divide between drivers and cyclists is clearly shown in the survey. The full survey results will be published before the end of December 2020. SUPPORT OF LOCATION OF CYCLE LANES ANSWERED YES TOTAL SUPPORT NEW CYCLE LANES BUILT ONTO EXISTING ROADS SUPPORT NEW CYCLE LANES BUILT AWAY FROM EXISTING ROADS CYCLISTs 2012 98% 46% CARS 6119 19% 89% TRUCKS 654 8% 93% VANS 1802 5%Read Whole Article

Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuelUK, Secretary to APPG for Fair Fuel for Motorists and Hauliers said:  “It looks like welcome spending on roads for motorists and hauliers is secure, but there’s no hiding the huge tax gap of up to £80billion to fund the Chancellor’s ‘spending heavy’ plan. Something will have to give. We have been reliably told by Treasury sources that, UK’s drivers will be taking the significant burden to pay the Nation’s way out of the Covid economic crisis. In layman’s speak, Rishi Sunak is paving the way to hit drivers hard in the next Budget! The world’s highestRead Whole Article

..businesses and residents rightly up in arms about madcap ‘trial’ closures under the so-called ‘Emergency Active Travel Scheme’. craig mackinlay mp for south thanet “My latest email inbox filler is from businesses and residents rightly up in arms about madcap ‘trial’ closures under the so-called ‘Emergency Active Travel Scheme’.  These schemes, which have sprung up across the country, have been implemented without consultation and, it would seem, without an ounce of common sense as to how these daft schemes will impact trade, the normal lives of local people or traffic flows. FairFuelUK are absolutely right to highlight local council failingsRead Whole Article

The optimism resulting from Michael Gove’s swift response to the RHA chief executive’s urgent request for a round table meeting to discuss government’s preparedness for transition was at best misplaced. Commenting, Richard Burnett said: “As we understood it the intention was for a small meeting with the key players to discuss just how government intends to implement the many processes and procedures needed to ensure that border crossings are as seamless and as pain-free as possible. That was not the case. The meeting comprised a wide range of stakeholders, all of whom have their own concerns and agendas. “With onlyRead Whole Article

Extract: from the Daily Telegraph https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/05/grant-shapps-tells-councils-stop-abusing-250m-fund-meant-green/ Grant Shapps has told councils to stop abusing the £250 million fund meant for a green transport revolution by installing pointless one-way systems and barriers that offer “no benefit to anyone”. Writing in The Telegraph, the Secretary of State for Transport says he will personally intervene to scrap the worst examples where local authorities have ruined high streets and residential roads in an attempt to build cycle lanes and promote social distancing for pedestrians. His comments come after a series of petitions attracted thousands of signatures from people across the country who fear councils are pandering to theRead Whole Article

Before every Budget, the Treasury leaks the prospect of a hike in fuel duty, and well-paid experts debate its merits. It is never easy to alter the Treasury’s innate instinct to put up taxes, but common sense has prevailed due to years of objective campaigning and lobbying backbench MPs hard. As the Guardian’s Gaby Hinsliff once reported, ‘it’s been one of the most successful lobbying campaigns in modern political history, successfully diverting billions from the treasury with barely a squeak.’  This time, the stage is different. It will be extremely hard for us at FairFuelUK to convince a nation crippledRead Whole Article

FairFuelUK, backed by the RHA and Logistics UK (FTA) will fight tooth and nail against the rumoured plans to raise fuel duty on already, one of the highest taxed group of drivers in the world. (See European fuel tax table below) Robert Halfon MP, talking directly to Rishi Sunak, said “Don’t let the taxpayer millions that funded half-price meals in August, be partly paid for, using an unnecessary hike in fuel duty. Such a needless rise in this levy will impact badly on the cost of living for families, increase inflation, hit businesses and jobs hard. It will even swellRead Whole Article

Howard Cox wrote in the Daily Express, Aug 4 2020 The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, remains hell-bent on driving a political and social wedge between cyclists and drivers. He’s plotting a dangerous strategy against drivers with his recent colossal and unnecessary Congestion Charge hike, the further extension of his cash grabbing pay-to-pollute emission zone ­– and by fast-tracking the construction of free-to-use dedicated cycle lanes. The London Mayor knows there are votes in Lycra, fittingly borne out in the latest FairFuelUK survey of 25,000 road users, in which the contrast could not be starker. Some 87 per cent of dedicatedRead Whole Article