Cameron: Fuel stabiliser may return
David Cameron has promised to look at ways of keeping petrol price rises to a minimum.
Control: Drivers have been hit by higher fuel costs.
He said the Government might revive the idea of the 'fair fuel stabiliser', whereby fuel tax would be cut when world oil prices soared.
And the Premier insisted he understood how 'painful and difficult' the rises in VAT and fuel duty had been for drivers.
A plan to introduce the stabiliser, to protect motorists from huge volatility in petrol prices, was floated by Mr Cameron before the election.
But it was quietly dropped just before June's Budget on the grounds it would be unaffordable.
Instead the Coalition went ahead with fuel duty hikes unveiled by Labour before they lost office, and put up VAT. At a public question and answer session in Leicester, Mr Cameron said: 'We're looking at that.
'It's not simple, it's not an easy thing to put in place but I would like to try and find some way of sharing the risk of higher fuel prices with the consumer.
'At the moment I think they feel they are bearing all of the burden so we are looking at this because we do want to try and help people.' He added: 'I accept people are paying a very high price for filling up their car or their van - it affects all businesses, it affects all of us.
'We've also got to do something bigger: which is to wean ourselves off hydrocarbons and petrol.'
Last night the Treasury confirmed the stabiliser plan was back on the table - saying they were considering an assessment of the idea by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility, published last year.
But the OBR concluded a 'fair fuel stabiliser' may not be affordable, as it would cost too much to subsidise lower prices at the pump.
An aide to Chancellor George Osborne said: 'The Government is considering the OBR's assessment of a fair fuel stabiliser and will report back to Parliament in due course.'
In a separate move, Mr Cameron yesterday backed his Housing Minister Grant Shapps, by saying he wanted an end to the 'housing boom'.
Mr Shapps had said massive property price increases, as seen before the recession, were bad for the economy.
Mr Cameron said: 'We don't want a housing boom where prices rise out of people's reach.'
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