With all the media frenzy that has surrounded the MPs expenses scandal in recent weeks, another scandal which hits people in the pocket seems to have gone almost unnoticed.

I am talking about the soaring prices of petrol and diesel, with a litre of unleaded on the forecourts of Taunton Deane mostly costing several pence over the £1 mark again.

There was a furore last year when prices were £1.20 and more per litre, and although they eventually dipped back into the 80ps, prices have since been steadily creeping back up.

This time, the hike in prices cannot be blamed on crude oil prices worldwide.

Fuel costs affect the pound in almost everybody’s pocket, whether they are filling up their own car or whether they are buying goods transported by lorry.

Of course, Gordon Brown’s Government is loving it because higher prices mean we are paying him more tax, so he is coining it in.

An incoming Conservative Government, however, would introduce a ‘Fair Fuel Stabiliser’ to stabilise petrol and diesel prices.

This would make the Government ‘share the pain’ of oil price surges rather than netting a tax windfall.

We have the highest fuel tax in Europe, with nearly three-quarters of the soaring cost of petrol at the pumps now going straight to the Treasury.

A ‘Fair Fuel Stabiliser’ would reduce duty when fuel prices go up, and raise it when fuel prices go down, thereby making prices at the pumps more stable.

Governments should put money aside in the good times to help families when the cost of living is rising.

But instead, Gordon Brown believes in pushing up fuel prices every year by at least the rate of inflation, and on top of his fuel tax he also charges us VAT, so we pay a double tax.

The Conservatives’ ‘Fair Fuel Stabiliser’ is a commonsense plan to help families, bring stability to the public finances, and help the environment by making the price of carbon less volatile.

To find out more about how Conservatives would make fuel prices fairer, email me at mark@markformosa.

com or visit www.markformosa.com