Duty to regulate

I am at a loss to understand why the price of petrol and diesel is rising so rapidly, and sometimes daily (Letters, 17 March). I have listened to supposed reasons for this explosion but, given past ridiculous excuses, have to disbelieve every one of them. This is obviously a race to raise the price as quickly as possible before the Budget so that it can be raised yet again after it, while the Treasury purrs with delight.

Were the price of fuel to go back to some semblance of normality in between panic measures, I might be persuaded, but this is now tantamount to theft by the companies involved.

MRS S POLSON

Main Street

Crossford

With the AA warning fuel could reach 1.20 per litre (your report, 17 March), it is vital that a fuel duty regulator is introduced at the forthcoming Budget to stabilise fuel prices. A regulator mechanism is designed to guarantee a double protection for motorists and the road haulage industry. Higher oil prices would trigger an automatic freeze in fuel duty rates, and any extra cash raised from VAT on petrol or diesel as a result would go back into an equivalent cut in fuel duty.

Sky high fuel taxes are indiscriminate and are effectively a poll tax on wheels. And it's not just hauliers who suffer, but ordinary families struggling to run a car for normal use. High fuel taxes also impact on prices in the stores, with costs rising to deliver food and other products to the shops.

An oil-rich nation like Scotland should be reaping the benefits from our offshore resources, not watching as North Sea revenues flow into a black hole in Treasury coffers while the Scottish budget is slashed.

ALEX ORR

Bryson Road

Edinburgh