Archived press release

Tories scrape bottom of oil barrel with election petrol bribe

10 May 2001

HAGUE TO GREEN VOTERS: BREATHE MY EXHAUST!
Friends of the Earth today savaged the Tories' manifesto pledge to cut 6p off a litre of petrol. According to the environment pressure group, this would mean:

• more traffic. Friends of the Earth estimates that for every 1% cut in fuel prices traffic levels could rise by about 0.2%
  
  
• more roads. FOE has identified 77 road schemes in England and 29 in Wales which the last Tory Government wanted to build but Labour put on hold. These schemes would damage 23 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and four Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. (Examples include A5 Dunstable bypass - through Blows Down SSSI, Poole Harbour crossing - damaging Holes Bay SSSI, Wales M4 relief road - through Gwent Levels SSSI: full list from FOE press office.)
  
  
• more pollution. According to the Government's Chief Medical Officer, between 12,000 and 24,000 people a year die prematurely in Britain because of air pollution from road traffic. Road transport is the second fastest growing source of carbon dioxide, the main climate changing gas (number one is civil aviation, but this produces much lower total CO2 emissions).
  
  
• more accidents. In 1997, 171 children were killed and 4,799 seriously injured while walking or cycling in Britain. A Government study in the mid-1990s showed that death rates for British child pedestrians were worse than in France, Germany, Italy or Sweden.

Commenting, FOE Executive Director Charles Secrett said:

“Mr Hague's promise of petrol price cuts shows the Tories miserably scraping the bottom of the last oil barrel in town in their desperate bid to avoid Election day disaster. Everyone who cares about our environment will treat this frantic bribe with the contempt it deserves. Mr Hague has just told every green-minded voter in Britain that the Tories couldn't care less about their support.”

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust