• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

MayorWatch

London News and Comment

  • NEWS
  • Twitter

LibDems urge ministers to remove red diesel tax perk to help clean up London’s air

June 21, 2017 - Martin Hoscik@MayorWatch

Caroline Pidgeon says the tax perk undermines efforts to clean up the capital’s air.
Ministers are being urged to end a “tax loophole” which allows refrigerated lorries to use cheaper ‘red diesel’, a perk Liberal Democrats say gives supermarkets “a perverse incentive” not to clean up their fleets.

Commonly used in agricultural vehicles, red diesel is taxed at just 11.14 pence per litre compared to 57.95 pence per litre for standard diesel.

While it’s illegal to drive a vehicle powered by the cheaper fuel on the public highways, some supermarkets and other fleet operators use it to run unregulated secondary engines which power their refrigeration units.

Caroline Pidgeon AM, the Liberal Democrat London spokesperson and a member of the London Assembly, and recently elected Liberal Democrat London MPs Tom Brake, Vince Cable and Ed Davey want the Treasury to remove this pricing perk.

In a joint submission to the Treasury’s consultation on the taxation of red diesel, the group say continuing to charge less for for the fuel will undermine efforts to clean up London’s air quality by removing any incentive to move to cleaner fuel types.

Ms Pidgeon said: “Red diesel was never intended to support major corporations operating on London’s roads.

“We need to end this loophole as quickly as possible. By hardly taxing diesel used for refrigeration units we provide a perverse incentive for supermarkets and other companies to carry on using diesel, when instead they should be adopting alternative cleaner technologies.”

Tom Brake, MP for Carshalton and Wallington said: “We need to support the adoption of new and cleaner technology.

“The current tax arrangements do the exact opposite and actually encourage the use of dirty diesel refrigeration engines continuing to exist on supermarket lorries.”

Sir Ed Davey, MP for Kingston and Surbiton, and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change during the coalition government, added: “Last year the world was scandalised by the revelation that VW and other manufacturers had installed ‘defeat devices’ on diesel cars to cheat US emission standards.

“However transport refrigeration units are far worse – emitting up to 93 times more NOx and 165 times more PM than the standards for a Euro 6 diesel car.”

“The case for this tax change is overwhelming.”

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

RECENT UPDATES

852 new homes to be built in Acton by Transport for London

HGV operators in London urged to apply for a Direct Vision Standard permit

TfL proposes bus and tube cuts and annual fares increases to achieve long-term financial sustainability

London’s entire bus fleet now meets ULEZ emissions standards




Popular

1,700 extra Santander Cycles are coming to London’s streets

TfL confirms changes to Older Person’s Freedom Pass and 60+ Oyster card hours

TfL fares to rise in return for £1.6bn Government rescue package

Election for Mayor of London and London Assembly postponed until 2021

FEATURED

City Hall to move to Docklands as Mayor seeks to raise £55m for frontline services

‘Concern’ over TfL’s ability to deliver major projects in wake of Crossrail cost overruns

City Hall halts London Overground ticket office closures but many will still see opening hours reduced

Transport for London confirms bus cuts will go ahead despite passenger opposition

GOT A STORY?

As the original London news and scrutiny site we've been casting an eye over the capital's public services and politicians since 1999.

 

Many of our top stories started with a tip-off from a reader - if you've got something you'd like us to cover get in touch and we'll do the rest.

Stay In Touch

  • E-mail
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2021 MayorWatch Publications Limited · MayorWatch is Registered Trademark · All Rights Reserved · Contact Us · Terms of Use · Privacy Policy

MayorWatch Publications Limited · 20-22 Wenlock Road · London N1 7GU · Company Number 6291816

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.