HARD-pressed drivers are around £16.50 better off every time they fill up their car with petrol or diesel — thanks to 14 years of historic campaigning by The Sun.
As he delivers his Budget tomorrow, Jeremy Hunt will become the seventh Tory Chancellor to freeze fuel duty since we launched our Keep It Down campaign to call for the move in 2010.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says the continuing policy has kept £80billion out the taxman’s hands — with independent experts putting it at nearer £90billion when tomorrow’s changes are taken into account.
If the duty had been allowed to rise in line with inflation since 2010, Britain’s drivers would now be paying 93.47p on a litre of fuel rather than the current 52.95p once VAT is included.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research calculates that would have been around 47 per cent higher representing 30p more a litre — a saving of around £16.50 when filling up an average 55-litre family car.
Mr Hunt — who spared drivers a 12p a litre fuel hike in his first full Budget last year — plans to extend the 5p cut for another year tomorrow in his make-or-break pre-election update on UK finances.
He has opted to keep the measure despite having limited wiggle room for sweeteners ahead of the vote.
It follows another tough month for drivers after the price of unleaded rose from 140.75p a litre to 144.76p in February — adding around £2 to the cost of filling up, says the RAC.
Diesel went from 148.53p to 153.22p a litre.
Filling a 55-litre tank would cost £84.27, a £2.60 rise.
There are fears March could be worse after oil-rich OPEC nations agreed to cut output to push up prices.
The 5p duty freeze announced by PM Rishi Sunak in the wake of the war in Ukraine was due to come to an end this month.
But dozens of Tory MPs wrote to Mr Hunt to say it would be “catastrophic” for the public and business if fuel duty rose in line with inflation.
FairFuelUK founder Howard Cox and Tory MP Jonathan Gullis marched to No10 to deliver a petition on the matter signed by 126,000 drivers.
Mr Gullis said: “I’m delighted the Chancellor has continued to listen and is backing Britain’s drivers.
“A huge well done to The Sun and its readers, as well as my friend Howard Cox and FairFuelUK supporters, for delivering for 14 consecutive years of savings at the pump.
“This will help to ensure fairer prices, while having the backs of the hard-working motorists and van drivers to ensure they get to keep more of their hard-earned money.”
Mr Cox said: “FairFuelUK supporters and millions of much- maligned drivers will be more than delighted that, for a 14th year, this regressive, still-too-high tax, is frozen again. Thank you Chancellor for ignoring the OBR’s doom and gloom forecasts and instead standing on the side of hard-pressed motorists.”
Mr Hunt, meanwhile, insisted he wanted a “lower tax economy” — a hint at a Budget National Insurance or income tax cut.
He suggested that public sector efficiencies could give him greater scope to act.
He added: “We do want to move to a lower taxed economy, but we’re only going to do so in a way that is responsible and recognises there are things that taxes pay for, that we couldn’t cut taxes by borrowing.
“We’ll do so in a responsible way. But if we can spend money on public services more efficiently that will mean less pressure on taxpayers.”
‘Lower tax economy’
After the Treasury released pictures of Mr Sunak studying the Chancellor’s laptop as they discussed the Budget, No10 rejected the suggestion the PM was a “back-seat driver” in the update.
Asked if Mr Sunak viewed his Chancellor as timid, the PM’s spokesman said: “Absolutely not.
“The Chancellor is working very closely with the PM to deliver our plan for the economy and obviously the Chancellor will be setting out further measures at the Budget.”
Officials have drawn options for raising money to fund tax cuts, such as reforming the non-dom status for individuals with earnings overseas.
Labour has also promised the move, vowing to spend the incoming cash on NHS improvements.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “The Conservatives have spent the best part of a decade pick- pocketing the British people’s taxes, now they are pickpocketing the Labour Party of its policies.”
She said Mr Hunt was “cynically talking up maxing out headroom to pay for pre-election promises”.
She added: “I see through it and so do the British people.”
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
