Reduce the Petrol Tax
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TE recent announcement that the price of petrol of all grades has been raised by 3d. per gallon will come as a serious additional blow to road transport, at a critical time. The petrol companies cannot be blamed for making this increase, large as it is. To them it was a necessity, for motor fuel has for long been sold at an uneconomic figure, but this does not mitigate the severity of its effect upon consumers, and now is the time that the Government could step in, and, by reducing the petrol tax, show that it is mindful of the interests of trade and industry. Lord Snowden, hi his speech introducing the 1931 Budget, expressed regret at the necessity of adding additional taxation to a commodity which, as be remarked, is so important to modern transport. Later, in his Supplementary Budget, he went so far as to say that he never liked the oil duty, but that the stern necessity of the present emergency, and that alone, compelled him to make use of it for the time being. The excuse given for this tax increase, of 2d. in September, 1931, was the low price of fuel, but this excuse no longer prevails, the economic situation has been greatly relieved, and the time is ripe for a substantial reduction.