The British Marine Federation announced today that red diesel can be obtained at current prices for ‘possibly another year,’ but what happens after that? There is a very real risk that we could all end up paying garage forecourt prices to go boating, which will cause a lot of motorboaters to give up.
That’s why PBO has launched a campaign to stop road duty being placed on red diesel, and keep the inevitable price rises as affordable as possible.

Existing legislation
The precedent already exists. If you use a petrol powered boat in connection with your business (such as a sea school or charter support) you can already claim back the full road duty on any marine petrol you use. This can be back-dated for up to three years, and the refunds are administered by HM Customs and Excise.
We are encouraging readers to lobby their MP to ensure that all boats continue to use red diesel to prevent fraud and theft by road users, as well as keeping the quayside supply chain intact, but that only the minimum EU tax is added. This is currently 21p a litre.

VAT status
There is a VAT question as well. At the moment, a realistic 5% VAT is added to leisure diesel as it is also used for heating and power generation by boats (especially canal-boat liveaboards, many of whom are low income pensioners). This VAT status also needs protecting.
So why not support our campaign by picking up a sticker from the London Boat show, and wearing it proudly on your boat, either on the windscreen or by your deck filler. Write to your MP, supporting the historical use of multi-use red diesel for boating, which uses just 0.05% of the diesel burned in the UK, and would raise just £10 million in extra revenue whilst damaging an industry turning over a staggering £2 billion a year!

Stickers should be available after the Christmas break, and can be obtained free of charge from the PBO offices, or at stand B008 at the London Boat Show.