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Less than a week after MPs voted against a Scottish National Party Amendment to the Finance Bill, which would have allowed the Government to introduce a fuel duty regulator, the Conservative Party has unveiled plans for a fair fuel stabiliser. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne says the proposal will reduce fuel duty when fuel prices go up and raise it when fuel prices go down, and if it had been introduced at the budget in April, fuel would now be 5p/lit cheaper.

However, the industry is  scathing of the plans because it appears to be similar to the SNP amendment that was rejected by MPs last week. Roger King, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association says: "These latest proposals are very similar in concept to those proposed by the SNP as an amendment to the Finance Bill. "Had the Conservatives put their weight behind the SNP's fuel duty regulator proposals, it would have made all the difference between the success and failure."