Labour calls on government to rule out fuel duty rise if there is
headroom ahead of next Budget, saying inaction could lead to
record rise in petrol prices
With projections that the cost of living crunch will continue,
Labour today urge the government to rule out a fuel duty rise at
the next Budget if OBR projections show it’s affordable.
If there is additional headroom in the upcoming Budget, the party
is calling for it to go towards the cost of living crisis as a
priority, starting by ensuring that fuel duty will not rise in
the Budget.
If the government don’t act, Labour says, 12p would be added to
price of a litre of petrol.
This would be the biggest increase in petrol prices on record
(beating the previous record in June 2022 when petrol rose by
7.54p in a single week). Petrol prices remain at historic highs,
with figures showing that unleaded petrol prices are still a
third higher than in 2020.
And they claim that with Britain’s public transport system
decimated by years of Tory mistakes, many households rely on
their cars to get to work. With thousands of businesses facing
new challenges after a withdrawal of government support, another
big rise in petrol will have a knock on impact on an already
weakened economy, Labour says.
It comes after one of the most volatile years for petrol prices
on record, and growing concerns that even when prices dropped,
they weren’t being properly passed on to consumers, as the
numbers on petrol forecourts remained high.
The party revealed that between mid-June and the latest data
referring to mid-November, the price of crude oil acquired by
refineries fell by 19%.
But despite that, the price of unleaded petrol only fell by just
10% over that period – with the price of diesel only dropping by
1%. Labour today say the government must act to end the dither
and delay with making sure price falls make their way to
motorists.
Labour’s pressure comes ahead of a Budget where cost of living
and higher bills will continue to plague households.
The party is also highlighting the need for more than just
taxpayer funded sticking plasters in the long-term, as motorists
are exposed to volatile petrol prices due to 13 years of failure
on public transport and the transition to clean vehicles.
MP, Labour’s Shadow
Chancellor said:
“Many families will be asking themselves whether they feel better
off under the Tories, or whether anything is working better now
than it did 13 years ago.
“The answer will be no. With so many families and businesses
reliant on their cars, the government must rule out yet another
fuel duty rise at the Budget to ease some of those pressures and
prevent yet another shock to our economy.
“But we must move beyond these sticking plasters, and stop the
dither and delay in passing on any dips in prices on to
motorists.
“Britain cannot keep lurching from crisis to crisis. With
Labour’s plan to boost energy security we will lower bills,
tackle the climate crisis, get our economy growing and get living
standards up.”
Ends
Notes
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/oil-and-petroleum-products-monthly-statistics
