Motorists will at last be offered some relief in today’s Budget after pump prices reached record highs.
The AA said last night that the average cost of petrol was 133.46p a litre, with diesel at 140.01p a litre. Just a year ago, drivers were paying 116.71p a litre for petrol and 117.42p for diesel.
Chancellor George Osborne today looks certain to announce that he is scrapping a 1p duty rise announced by Labour and due to come into effect next month.
Relief: As prices of petrol continue to rise, there will be some respite for drivers as George Osborne is expected to scrap a Labour-planned 1p rise in fuel duty
Relief: As prices of petrol continue to rise, there will be some respite for drivers as George Osborne is expected to scrap a Labour-planned 1p rise in fuel duty
The move will cost the Treasury around £600million at a time of acute belt-tightening in the public finances.
But Whitehall sources expect the Chancellor to go further – predicting that he will commit the Government to a freeze or further reductions in duty and to introducing a ‘fair fuel stabiliser’.
Treasury officials have been working for weeks to find a way to reform the tax system so that fuel duty goes down when oil prices go up.
Source: James Chapman, Mail online
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