Tory MP Claire Perry has returned from a freebie trip to Australia to give her immediate support to Chancellor George Osborne’s last minute decision to freeze fuel duty until the end of the year.
While Mr Osborne faced almost universal criticism for another budget U-turn from political and media commentators, the local MP pointed out that the proposed fuel duty rises, said previously to be essential in bringing down government debt, were inherited from the last Labour government.
The Labour opposition had itself called for removal of the 3p per litre escalator rise planned for August – due to the actual falling cost of fuel — in the face of the austerity cuts facing the country.
Now the Chancellor estimates he is saving motorists £159 on filling up the average family car by the end of the year.
“Thanks to the Conservatives in government, fuel duty has now been frozen for two years,” said Mrs Perry in a press release to Marlborough News Online.
“This is good news for motorists, families and businesses coping with tight finances and by taking action on fuel pump prices, freezing council tax and cutting income tax for millions of people, the Conservatives are providing real help to people with the cost of living and a boost for Wiltshire’s economy.”
But Mrs Perry provided no information on her foreign trip, paid for by the Australian government, in her role as parliamentary private secretary to Defence Secretary Philip Hammond.
A statement on the Foreign Office website said she was accompanied by Jim Murphy, Labour’s shadow defence secretary, and Sir Bob Russell, the Lib-Dem member of the Defence Select Committee. And showed a picture of all three in Australia.
“In Canberra they met the Australian Defence Minister and Opposition spokesman, as well as a range of senior military officers and officials,” said the report.
“They discussed shared experiences of a decade of intense operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the impact on public attitudes towards Defence. Perry and Russell both represent towns with strong army links (her Devizes constituency is home to five Army bases).
“They explored some of the future strategic challenges which Australia will be looking at in its new Defence White Paper next year. And they compared notes on the budgetary pressures both Defence ministries face, which provide an incentive to greater bilateral cooperation on defence procurement.
“Both sides welcomed the reinvigorated UK/Australia engagement through the AUKMIN process. They are travelling on to Adelaide to visit the Defence supply industry and then to Perth to visit some military establishments.
Sir Bob was impressed to find that among the fine British ales which I offer guests when hosting official dinners, was his local brew Adnams. He was delighted to find it so far away from home.”
Mrs Perry later told Marlborough News Online: “I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Australia as a guest for the Department of Defence which allowed me to get a first-hand look at various aspects of the Australian military forces and discuss how Britain and Australia might work together in the future.
“In a short space of time, I managed to meet Defence Ministers, tour shipyards, visit naval installations and the Australian Parliament as well as meet some of the country’s finest service personnel, including the Australian SAS.
“The UK and Australia already share a strong national bond through the military struggles over the last century and nowhere was this more evident than in my visit to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, dedicated to the 102,000 Australian soldiers who have lost their lives in conflict as well as being a national museum.”
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