Commons duty row
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• A Government minister has branded the Conservative Party as extremist for supporting the campaign to scrap increases in road fuel duty.
Treasury Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt reminded MPs that It was the Conservative Government that introduced the road fuel duty escalator to tackle pollution. "They have now become such an extreme party that they have abandoned that policy and their commitment to improving air quality," she said. Hewitt was responding to an MP who highlighted the plight of one business, Dorset Heavy Haulage in Ferndown, near Ringwood, whose owners, Tom and Jan Martin, had written to him saying the Government's policy threatened to put them out of business.
David Heathcoat Amory, Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said Hewitt's comment showed how out of touch the Government was with the haulage industry