Prime Minister wants fuel price cut

Monday, October 13, 2008

Brown says prices should mirror oil costs
Says savings should be passed on faster
Petrol retailers hit back, demanding tax drop

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Prime Minister Gordon Brown has waded into the fuel price debate, demanding that retailers pass on price cuts to motorists faster.

The price of oil has plummeted from a high of $147 a barrel this summer to a current cost of around $82. However, fuel retailers have come under attack for not passing on the savings fast enough.

Brown said: 'I want these price cuts passed on to the consumer, and passed on as quickly as possible.'

Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers Association, responded by saying that Brown could easily reduce prices himself.

'Gordon Brown always has the ability to reduce fuel prices through a fuel tax reduction, but avoids it,' he said.

The Prime Minister also called on OPEC, the organisation representing oil-producing countries, not to cut production at its forthcoming emergency meeting in order to force a price rise.