Bus operators get £5.6m back (From The Oxford Times)

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  Hugh Jaeger wrote:
  This is a disingenuous article that makes selective use of the facts in order to mislead the gullible. And it gets one fact wrong: the name of the fuel duty rebate is "Bus Service Operators Grant", not "Bus Operators' Support Grant".
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  The Fuel Duty Rebate for bus and coach fuel was 100% from 1965 until 1994, when John Major started whittling it down and thus undermining bus and coach services. By the early years of the Blair government FDR was only 67%.
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  In 2002 Blair partially restored it to 81% but renamed it from FDR to BSOG. This re-cast the rebate as a grant, I suspect in order to mislead the gullible into seeing this tax allowance as a New Labour gift.
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  If the Oxford Mail article were a piece of responsible journalism it would point out that on 1st April 2012 the Coalition slashed BSOG by 20%. Combined with this month's 3p increase in duty on diesel fuel, this has added £1.1 million a year to the cost of running buses in Oxfordshire. This is why Oxford Bus Co has just increased its fares for the first time in three years and Stagecoach is just about to do likewise.
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  Last November the Coalition completely scrapped BSOG for coach services. Stagecoach could have taken that as a reason to increase fares on the Oxford Tube. But it did not; either then or in the current fares revision.
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  Public transport should not pay duty on fuel. Fuel for civil aircraft is duty-free and fuel for trains is almost duty-free. Bus and coach fuel should go back to being duty-free as well.

  Hugh there is NO PUBLIC TRANSPORT anymore. Ask Souter and GO AHEAD, if they provide a public transport service, or make millions profit a year subsidised out of our taxes. Over a pound to go one stop down the road, that is not public transport, that is a rip off, but at least it is not approaching Boris in London with his £4 a trip. That is the tories for you."
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