Tim Reid from the BBC has just said on Twitter
This is a good start. This won't help those far flung communities in Galloway or Sutherland or Wester Ross where, believe me, having a car is essential, but let's hope that there will be further applications.
This is something Scottish Liberal Democrat MEP George Lyon has been working on and campaigning for ever since he was elected in 2009.
This will hopefully result in a 5p per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices.
Already Lib Dem island MPs have welcomed this decision. Alistair Carmichael said:
This is the single most important step on the road towards reducing the cost of petrol and diesel in the Isles. “I am delighted that we have got this consent and hope that the remaining hoops will be a formality to jump through. “This is Liberal Democrats delivering in government what they promised in opposition.”
Shetland MSP Tavish Scott showed how this will help the communities:
“Last week, Shetland motorists endured a 4p rise in one day at some Island petrol stations. The difference between us and the mainland of Scotland is 20p.
“Alistair Carmichael deserves credit for pushing this derogation so hard in the UK Government and it will help.
“Shetland also needs a full inquiry into the monopoly that GB Fuels operates and the consequences of that on local prices. That is the next stage, and we need that action which recognises that the car is a necessity of life not a luxury in the Northern Isles.
The European Council has to approve the change but that should just be a formality.
We know that this didn't happen with Labour in Government, and it certainly wouldn't with the Conservatives alone. This is another example of Liberal Democrats making a difference.
9 comments:
That would be great news if our rulers in the EU allowed us to reduce the price of petrol in our own country.
The SNP have proposed a fuel duty regulator that would reduce prices for everyone in Scotland Caron not just people on the islands. So please don’t say that the SNP were not interested, that is simply not true. If you can only carry your argument by means of pure mendacity then it’s a pretty shabby argument at best!
In true Lib Dem tradition its hasn’t actually happened yet either. Funny how all the so called good that the Lib Dems have “achieved” in this coalition has not yet happened while the bad stuff that they couldn’t “stop” the Tories from doing has. Caron is it not normal for people to list their achievements after they have actually achieved them and not when they are still some airy-fairy aspiration. The tax rate reduction is a case in point. How often do we hear you and other Lib Dems listing that as an “achievement”? Well it’s not yet happened has it? Getting to Tibet does not mean you have achieved the summit of mount Everest you know!
When you say tax fate reduction, do you mean the raising of the personal allowance. That happened in April, will happen next April & will go on up to £10,000 & Danny wants to develop that to £12,500 in the future.
Airy fairy aspiration - a perfect description of the Scottish Futures Trust. How many hospitals did that build?
Bob, we'd be in a right mess if we weren't in Europe. They buy a lot of the stuff we make.
Caron,
We traded with Europe and the rest of the world for centuries before the EU.
Europe won't stop buying whiskey or Airbus wings etc if we weren't in the EU.
The USSR tried to force countries together in a totalitarian state and that collapsed.
Greece, Ireland, Spain and Italy are bankrupt and all manner of EU 'laws' are being broken to hold them together. The rest of the EU countries will also face bankruptcy if we have to keep bailing each other out.
We've been sucked into a tighter and tighter union with no chance of having a say in whether we want this.
We've given up our sovereignty so that an unelected elite can live like Kings ( and Queens) at our expense.
So in other words Caron a bit of it has happened, another bit might and the last bit also might, yes? I recall George Osborne saying that the final stages would happen if the country could afford it. So that is a “maybe” from the big cheese, to the it’s a great Lib Dem “achievement” form you and your associates. You see Caron it has not actually been “achieved” yet and, therefore, is not by definition an “achievement”. Do you think it might be possible for you to come back when it has been achieved and then tell us it’s an achievement because until then it is most defiantly an “aspiration” (whether airy-fairy or otherwise).
Is mentioning the Scottish Futures Trust an attempt to divert the discussion into a dead-end, away from discussing things that the Lib Dems count as “achievements” which have not actually yet been achieved?
Reform the banking business not for 8 years! joke. They'll be asking to be bailed out again shortly.
Recall bill! joke. Not a peep.
Scotland Bill! joke as even Calman admits the numbers were made up. Going to force it on us if rejected by the Scottish government.
Crown Estates! joke Ran away.
Vote LibDem and get what you don't want. fact.
Bob, we'd be in a right mess if we weren't in Europe. They buy a lot of the stuff we make.
That is total garbage as they would still buy it if it is a realistic price and quality no matter what political spin one wishes to put on it. If they don't buy it then they don't need it.
Munguin, another Lib Dem idea is about to co e to fruition. I know that oesn't suit your narrative but you'll just have to get used to the fact that we're making a difference, for the better, in a Government facing the worst economic situation in several generations.
Caron you will forgive me if I wait until it does come to fruition before issuing any congratulations. These Lib Dem aspirations are a funny thing much trumpeted when in the offing but not so much lauded when actually achieved. Whether that is because they are not actually achieved or not remains to be seen.
Perhaps Munguin might like to recall the Road Equivalent Tariff which only applies to the Western Isles with 2 SNP Parliamentarians. The Scottish Government will not extend it to Orkney or any of the other ferry services. When challenged before the last elections Rob Gibson, then Highlands and Islands MSP, suggested we might vote SNP. It was a joke he said.. So we didn't but there is still unequal treatment for all.
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