Under the pump: Priti Patel among 29 MPs to back call for fuel pricing watchdog
Priti Patel has joined almost 30 other colleagues in calling for a pump pricing watchdog to tackle the soaring fuel costs for motorists.
The former home secretary signed a letter backing FairFuelUK’s call for an oversight body and commissioner to keep prices down, which is also supported by Dame Andrea Leadsom.
This comes as motoring groups such as the AA and RAC have campaigned against the disparity in prices for fuel at wholesale and the pump.
In a letter to chancellor Jeremy Hunt, Jonathan Gullis MP and Andrea Leadsom MP echoed concerns raised by an investigation from the Competition and Markets Authority, which outlined the increase in margins for fuel retailers earlier in the year.
They said the CMA is investigating the “influential hold wholesalers have on the market” calling skyrocketing it “immensely problematic in a time of high inflation, causing record pump prices on small businesses and low to middle income drivers”.
Backing the “sensible idea” of a pump pricing watchdog and commissioner, they reiterated calls made in Parliament on 1 December.
At the time, Penny Mordaunt said the UK govt is “looking into this”, while commending the work of FairFuelUK.
The letter cites analysis from FairFuelUK which includes “countless examples of pump prices increasing in parallel with the cost of oil rising”. But, they argue “When the price of oil falls, pump prices never drop significantly by the correct and fair amount.”
According to the campaign, between 10 October and 8 December, petrol prices fell just three per cent, compared to wholesale which plummeted 22 per cent.
“The price differential between petrol and diesel jumped a massive 400 per cent from 5p/litre to 24p/litre”, they said.
Craig Mackinlay MP and Chair of the Fair Fuel All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) said: “Wholesale oil prices are way down from historic highs but the price at the pump has moved down by mere buttons.
“It is now even more obvious that motorists are being fleeced by the fuel retailers and it’s time for a ‘Pumpwatch’ price monitor to highlight the truth and bring such blatant profiteering to heel.”
Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK added that “for years and years there's been a foul stench of sickening exploitation hanging around thousands of garage forecourts, despite falling wholesale and oil costs.
“We should be seeing fuel price signposts across the country, 10-20p per litre lower for diesel and petrol.”
“What’s more, this surprisingly and increasingly anti-motorist Tory administration seems to be sitting back, dare I say it, almost encouraging the fuel supply chain to continue to fleece drivers at the pumps. Don’t forget the billions of extra VAT pouring into the Treasury due to eye watering pump prices. PumpWatch is way past critical, to stop the fuel supply chain continually fleecing motorists at will.”
