Ten-year fuel rise denied
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• The Government has denied Conservative Party claims that the fuel duty escalator will run for at least 10 years.
Last week Patricia Hewitt, economic secretary to the Treasury, told the Commons that the escalator policy, which ensures annual rises In diesel duty of 6% plus inflation, will save two million tonnes of carbon in reduced vehicle emissions —if it remains in force until 2010.
Conservative Treasury spokesman John Whittingdale predicts that if the escalator remains in place the price of a gallon of diesel will rise to £7.09.
However, a Treasury spokesman says Hewitt's comments were about environmental matters and did not guarantee the escalator would be in place until 2010. She describes the Government's policy on the fuel duty escalator as "open-ended".