MP fuels hopes of cheaper pump prices - but not in the strath
Motorists in parts of the Highlands have been offered a glimmer of hope that they could also benefit from a new fuel discount scheme which is set to start soon on Scottish islands.
Highland MP Danny Alexander said attempts to extend the UK Government initiative to rural mainland areas could be made, depending on the success of the pilot which starts in the Northern Isles, Hebrides and Argyll islands in March.
However, Mr Alexander, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, warned it could be tough persuading Brussels that it should be rolled-out to the mainland and could take years.
The government received the go-ahead from the European Commission (EC) to introduce the much vaunted scheme which will see fuel retailers receive a 5 pence discount on petrol and diesel to be passed on to customers.
Fuel prices can be on average 10 pence more in the islands than in other parts of the UK - a strikingly similar situation in the North and calls have been made by the SNP to extend it.
Mr Alexander said he would back efforts to lobby the EC but not right now.
"The case is self-evident for island communities and we were able to win support for it in Europe quickly," said Mr Alexander.
"My priority was to get that in place as quickly as we could and to show people that it can work. I would very much like to see for some of the most remote places to find a way to deliver this too. This has never been done before in this country. It has to be one step at a time."
The Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey MP said he appreciated the high price of fuel in Caithness in particular.
Mr Alexander said introducing the discount scheme to islands and the mainland was an issue he had campaigned for as a MP long before the 2010 General Election after which the Liberal Democrats formed a coalition government with the Conservative party and he joined the administration.
"Once we have seen that the pilot can work and retailers are passing on the benefit to customers and all aspects of it do work, then I think there will be an opportunity over the next few years to make an argument about identifying the most remote mainland communities where this could potentially be applied to.
"I think that will be a harder argument to win at a European level to be honest because the argument we have made is the cost of transportation and delivery to the islands which bump up the price of fuel."
The inclusion of Skye - which is linked to the mainland by a bridge - in the scheme has been questioned and Mr Alexander said it would be an "interesting test."
