Cut the price of heating oil to help 1.5million rural home owners, Danny Alexander tells suppliers Speaking to journalists at the monthly Parliamentary Press Gallery lunch, Mr Alexander said: "One of the recent economic issues has been the fall in oil prices. And I have been making efforts to make sure that is passed on at the pumps at filling stations. We are seeing some results from that. But there are other areas where that fall in oil price does need to be passed on. There are around 1.5million homes in this country that are heated using heating oil - it is more expensive than electric heat. Those households tend to be more likely in fuel poverty and the market is less transparent. So I will be holding a round table with that industry in the Treasury on Thursday of this week to get that message across to those organisations, that they need to be passing on the fall in oil prices just as filling stations do. Mr Alexander also reiterated his threat that the wealthy would face further hikes after the election if the Liberal Democrats are part of the Government. He said: "Tax rises on the wealthiest are what's needed." He also appeared to rule out a VAT increase. Asked if he could rule out an increase in VAT from 20 per cent, he said: "I think there's no need for the sort of thing you're referring to."