Thursday 17th July 2008

John Howell MP

Howell maiden speech: We won U-turn on fuel duty rise

In his maiden speech to the House of Commons on Wednesday 16 July, the newly elected MP for Henley, John Howell, said that the people of South Oxfordshire deserved the credit for forcing the Prime Minister to do a u-turn and axe the promised rise of 2p in fuel duty this autumn.

The Prime Minister had earlier confirmed that the 2p rise would not now take place.

John Howell said:

“I think that my constituents would feel that they had a role to play in this.  They regarded the by-election as, in many ways, a referendum on the Government’s whole approach to the motorist and will be glad to have forced the Government into this climbdown.”

In his speech he praised his predecessor Boris Johnson. 

He said:

 “Boris’s ability to make politics and life fun are undeniable, but they should not obscure a man of great intellect and ability who will be much missed in the constituency and will be a hard act to follow.”

He went on to express concern for the way that life in the constituency was being threatened by the steady erosion of local services such as post office closures and high petrol prices which could lead to rural isolation.  He made a specific promise to the service personnel and their families at RAF Benson that he would hold the Government to account on delivering the fair deal that they deserved.