‘Ongoing fuel price spiral causing misery’ – Ritchie | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

‘Ongoing fuel price spiral causing misery’ – Ritchie

SDLP South Down MP Margaret Ritchie has called for more and harder work to be done to drive down fuel prices in the Northern Ireland.

Speaking to Newry Times, she said: “Northern Ireland continues to have the highest fuel prices in the UK and frequently the highest in Europe. In just four months, the cost of filling a car with petrol has gone up by a staggering £5.10 to £71.30 based on a 50 litre tank. It is the most car-dependent region in the UK and Ireland and also the region of the UK with the highest level of fuel poverty. And yet still the cost of fuel rockets week by week, month by month.”

Ritchie continued, “I met with representatives of the Consumer Council who alerted me to the sheer vaulting scale of the impact of fuel prices in the North and, though not surprised, I was still shocked. I join with them in calling on the government to do more to help consumers here, particularly by scrapping the planned 3p rise in duty due to be implemented in August – they already take more in diesel duty than any other country in the EU. Also, multi-site supermarkets must stop the practice of local pricing and instead offer customers their lowest price for fuel across their outlets.”

“Consumers are crying out to have their punishing fuel bills alleviated – the government can do something about it and they must do it now,” she added.

Short URL: https://newrytimes.com/?p=13545

Posted by on May 9 2012. Filed under Community, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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