Helen Morgan joins forces with newest MP to push for action on rural fuel costs

Helen Morgan joined forces with the Liberal Democrats’ newest MP on his first day in Parliament to call for more rural areas to benefit from fuel duty relief.

Helen, the MP for North Shropshire, reiterated her call for rural fuel duty relief to be doubled to 10p and expanded to areas including Shropshire and Devon as her new colleague and fellow by-election winner Richard Foord tabled a motion on the issue.

Shortly after being sworn in in the House of Commons, Richard tabled an Early Day Motion which notes that rural areas often pay significantly more than urban areas for fuel and are also reliant on cars to get around.

The motion calls for rural fuel duty to be doubled and expanded and has now been signed by Helen.

Helen Morgan MP said: “Petrol prices continue to go up and up and yet the Government has done nothing to help people in places like Shropshire with the cost of fuel and has watched on as public transport services get worse and worse.

“In North Shropshire the lack of infrastructure means a car is often the only way to get from A to B and people are now having to pay more than £100 to fill up their tanks. It’s not fair and once again it is rural people who are forgotten about by this Government.

“So it’s extremely welcome news, not just for Devon but for Shropshire and the country as a whole, that in Richard we have another hardworking MP who genuinely cares about rural areas.

“I urge other MPs in Shropshire to support the motion and do their bit to give people in rural areas the support they deserve.”

At the moment only 10,500 residents in England live in communities benefiting from rural fuel duty relief. This includes the Isles of Scilly and three other postcode areas.

The Lib Dems want these areas to be widened to include Shropshire, Wales, Devon, Cornwall and Cumbria.

The full text of the early day motion is as follows: “That this House is concerned about the significant increase in petrol and diesel prices since the start of the year; notes that rural areas often pay significantly more than urban areas for fuel; notes that people in rural areas often have no choice but to drive due to poor public transport provision; welcomes the introduction of Rural Fuel Duty Rate Relief introduced by the Liberal Democrats in government in some remote rural areas of the UK; and calls for Rural Duty Rate Relief to be doubled to 10p and to be expanded to cover more rural areas during the current spike in fuel prices.”