Cable drops line on fuel levy

Vince Cable today ditched part of his speech which praised Norway for increasing fuel by 20p a litre more than in Britain.

The party's Treasury spokesman called for the Lib-Dems to show the "courage and maturity" to make the case for green taxes on oil.

And in his speech, he had been due to say: "Look across the North Sea to Norway. They could now easily afford to have the cheapest petrol in Europe. reality they have chosen to have the most expensive petrol, and diesel, in Europe, at least 20p a litre more than in the UK."

But Mr Cable dropped the reference to a 20p rise and insisted he was not advocating such an increase. Mr Cable's aides said the speech had been altered because the 20p reference did not scan well.