Comment
HOWARD COX
If Keir Starmer whacks 10p on fuel duty in the Budget it will hammer any chances of growth and drive Britain to ruin
And scroll to read the serious impact ULEZ has had on London’s economy
THE Prime Minister has warned us October’s Budget will be “painful”.
But I strongly believe his idea of pain will be to put up fuel duty.
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And that will be a disaster for Britain.
In his Rose Garden speech at No10, Sir Keir Starmer repeated that there would be no increase in income tax, VAT or National Insurance.
Yesterday he was asked during his trip to Germany if that meant fuel duty would be going up in October.
It comes as no surprise that he did not deny it.
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It is now clear to me that Labour’s first Budget will hit the motorist hard.
From credible Whitehall intelligence, I am in no doubt that the Treasury will revert to type and increase fuel duty in the autumn by as much as TEN PENCE a litre to “balance the books”.
Ending a near 15-year freeze on fuel duty — which The Sun and FairFuelUK fought for with the Keep It Down campaign — could be the worst mistake Labour makes.
Starmer’s speech on Tuesday made no reference to “growing the economy”.
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In fact, far from growing the economy, putting up fuel duty will wreck our growth.
Our economy is totally linked to the cost of road transport, and the way to go about growing it is not by ripping off the motorist.
Brits face tax rises in tough Budget as Keir Starmer warns of 'short term pain' to 'fix country'
An extra 10p per litre will make life a misery for 37million motorists who are already struggling to fill their vehicles at inflated petrol and diesel prices.
This alarming news will add a staggering £5.50 to every average-sized family car fill-up, a significant blow to millions of household budgets.
Remember, this is the same party that bragged during the election about how, in opposition, Labour had “supported freezing fuel duty every time it had come up”.
And Wes Streeting — now the Health Secretary — said The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign would be “pushing at an open door”.
As things stand, I predict that in the October Budget, drivers are set to be fleeced on a scale not seen since between 1997 and 2010, when Labour increased fuel duty by a staggering 46 per cent.
Look out for the 5p per litre reduction brought in by Rishi Sunak when he was Chancellor in 2022 being scrapped, and another five pence being added to fuel duty, making a 10p rise.
The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign, with FairFuelUK, has saved drivers more than £200billion in planned tax hikes in duty and VAT.
Because of this, £24billion has been put back into consumer spending each and every year since 2011, when the freeze was first introduced.
Had we not fought to scrap the fuel duty escalator, fuel tax would be 90p a litre rather than the 57.95p it is today.
Without the fuel freeze, we would be paying more than TWO POUNDS a litre at the pumps.
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Today, the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol is 142p but, according to the latest RAC Fuel Watch data, retailers should only be charging 136p based on current wholesale prices.
And diesel is £1.47 a litre on the forecourt, when it should now be £1.39.
Our economy is unavoidably linked to the cost of road transport, and diesel is the lifeblood of growth.
As Simon Williams, of RAC Fuel Watch, points out: “Artificially high pump prices also contribute to a higher level of inflation — so if prices were nearer where they should be, inflation would be lower, benefitting borrowers and the wider economy.”
Since 2011, we have proved to a succession of Chancellors that increasing fuel duty for the highest-taxed motorists in Europe would damage our economy, jobs, inflation, business investment and freedom of movement.
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I hope Rachel Reeves, the current resident at No 11, is listening.
Don’t let the wheels fall off the economy so early into the job.
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Drivers 'fleeced by ULEZ'
TODAY marks the first anniversary of the extension of London’s loathed Ultra Low Emission Zone out to the M25.
What was initially presented as a measure to enhance air quality has evolved into a controversial strategy designed to extract hard-earned cash from the pockets of the owners of older petrol and diesel vehicles.
Ulez – which other towns and cities are being encouraged by Labour to copy – has a serious impact on London’s economy.
Expert analysis by economists at the Centre for Economics and Business Research for FairFuelUK estimates that the total cost of Ulez to businesses and consumers is close to £807million.
The last Tory government, and now Starmer’s administration, have seemingly allowed London’s GDP to be negatively affected without concern – all in their trillion-dollar journey to a Net Zero pipe dream.
The motorist really is a cash cow.
The Ulez expansion is estimated to have netted Transport For London up to £300million in its first year alone.
As of June, 374,348 Ulez expansion fines had been paid.
Each fine is £90 if paid within 14 days – otherwise it is £180.
There is no available breakdown of how many were paid on time, but the figures mean at least £33million has been raised from fines.
From next year, owners of electric vehicles must also pay the £15 London
Congestion Charge unless they receive another exemption or discount.
This proves Ulez has been all about fleecing drivers, not improving air quality
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