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TIGHTEN YOUR BELTS, CHANCELLOR WARNS
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MATT CHORLEY LONDON EDITOR

11:00 - 24 June 2008

Chancellor Alistair Darling yesterday admitted there was little he could do to help rural drivers struggling with soaring fuel costs - and advised them instead to concentrate on cutting their electricity bills.

While acknowledging motorists in areas with limited public transport have no choice but to get behind the wheel, Mr Darling told the WMN any help in cutting petrol and diesel costs would have to wait until a successor to the combustion engine had been found.

He also vowed to press ahead with controversial hikes in car tax for many family cars, under "green" plans by the Government to encourage drivers to opt for cleaner vehicles.

But the Association of British Drivers claimed he was "out of touch with reality" and called for an immediate cut in fuel duty.

Devon and Cornwall were among the worst hit areas during the recent tanker drivers' strike, seeing the cost of petrol top £1.99 a litre. A survey today reveals motorists in the Westcountry are the most likely to vote for another government as fuel prices go up.

But when challenged by the WMN to explain what hope there was for drivers who are dependent on their car to expect any relief from soaring costs, Mr Darling appeared to draw a blank.

"In relation to transport, certainly in the next few years, there is no alternative to the combustion driven engines. There may be over a longer period of time with hydrogen technology, but that is some time off," he said.

He insisted he was "acutely aware of the pressures that people face in rural areas" where petrol and diesel prices are higher, revealing his mother's family is from the Outer Hebrides.

But he suggested "where I think you can do things in the shorter term" is cutting energy use in the home which would reduce gas and electricity bills.

"Yes, fuel prices are a major concern to all of us at the moment. We will do everything we can to help there but at the same time we need to be looking at measures that will, over a longer period, cut people's gas and electricity bills," he said. "In relation to motoring, that is further off although we do want to encourage manufacturers to constantly improve the efficiency of their engines."

With many families and hauliers on the brink of financial collapse as fuel prices soar, Mr Darling again held out the prospect of delaying a planned 2p rise in the cost of a litre of fuel.

"What is driving those high fuel prices is the price of oil which has doubled per barrel in the last 12 months. It's the international pressure to get those prices down that will help businesses and hauliers in particular," he said.

The Chancellor's words will be cold comfort to the thousands of people in Devon and Cornwall who rely heavily on their cars.

Hugh Blaydon, a founding member of the Association of British Drivers, dismissed Mr Darling's comments as a "token response from somebody completely out of touch with reality".

He said Mr Darling should cut fuel duty by 10p per litre and he would be "no worse off than before these price rises".

Last year a report from the Department for Transport on cutting carbon emissions admitted bus services are not viable in the countryside so advised the most isolated to use the Internet to do their shopping. And rather than getting behind the wheel to travel to hospital or their GP surgery, rural communities will have to rely on "home delivery" of medical services, it added.