All 27 Tory MEPs in Brussels pledge to fight to save our low-duty fuel
In a frenzy of late lobbying, MBM has secured the commitment of the Conservative Party to the red diesel cause.
The Conservatives are Britain’s most powerful party in Europe with 27 MEPs, and today agreed to fight as one to save red diesel.
“The main objective of the Energy Tax Directive is to eliminate distortions in the internal market with regard to taxation. Ending the exemption for Britain and four other states will create distortions such as wide differences in prices between Member States,” the party told MBM
“We have always believed that there was a justification in allowing the full exemption on low-duty red diesel to continue. Britain has negotiated other exemptions such as VAT on children’s clothes because historically this has been the case. The European Union should not be about a one-fits-all scenario.”
Simon Collis, editor of Motor Boats Monthly, said: “This is a real coup for the red diesel campaign. The Conservatives are Britain’s most powerful party in Europe, so their support could make all the difference to the final outcome.
“The Conservatives have listened to their constituents, and the arguments from MBM, the RYA and the BMF, to produce a timely and well-argued response.
“It was a Labour Government that applied for an extension to the derogation, but at the moment it is the Conservatives who are pushing this issue in Europe, and we are extremely grateful for their support.”
To read the Conservative’s statement, and to see how your MEP responded to MBM’s call for support, see the Red Diesel Blog.
