EXCLUSIVE: 152,000 petitioners have said no to Rachel Reeves’ reported plan to raise fuel duty. A group of MPs have banded together in resistance.
Rachel Reeves has been met with fury from some MPs (Image: Getty)
Kier Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been told to ‘leave their bubble’ by angry MPs over fears that fuel duty will be increased in this week’s budget. 152,000 people signed a petition to keep fuel duty frozen at current levels and Conservative MP Lewis Cocking is leading the charge backed by a group of 26 MPs and a peer who all signed his open letter to the Chancellor.
Fuel duty has been frozen in the UK since 2011 at 52.95p per litre and had a temporary 5p per litre cut introduced in March 2022 under Rishi Sunak when the Ukraine War sent fuel costs spiraling. It’s reported that Reeves’ budget may be looking to remove the temporary cut and introduce a 3p per mile tax on electric vehicles – something hundreds of thousands of petitioners and the group of MPs cannot abide.
Mr Cocking, MP for Broxbourne, told The Express: “I want to ensure the voices of millions of ordinary people across our country are heard. Keir Starmer and his failing Labour government must step outside their metropolitan bubble and recognise that countless hardworking Brits – including my constituents in Broxbourne – depend on their cars, vans and lorries every single day. They simply cannot afford yet another tax hike.”
Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been told to ‘leave their bubble’ as fuel duty feared to rise (Image: Getty)
Lewis Cocking MP: “It’s painfully clear that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are out of their depth” (Image: House of Commons)
The MP said he would deliver FairFuelUK’s petition to Number 10 and 11 Downing Street. He added: “Any rise in fuel duty would hit the poorest the hardest, particularly those living outside big cities, and it would harm our chances for economic growth.”
FairFuelUK argue that road transport taxes are regressive and significantly impact the UK’s GDP, inflation, job creation, business investment, low-income families and society’s freedom of movement. On why a cut to fuel duty would boost the economy, Mr Cocking said: “More money in people’s pockets isn’t just fairer – it’s money that they can spend in local businesses and strengthens the wider economy.” Ignoring this is “a form of collective fiscal amnesia,” the FairFuelUK added.
FairFuelUK held a pre-Budget walk-in parliamentary reception to which is claimed that all Labour MPs had been invited by an average of 30 of their constituents. They planned to convince them that reducing fuel duty or at least maintaining its currently level was an economic and social good but only one Labour MP reportedly showed up and refused to say whether they supported an increase, freeze, or cut in Fuel Duty.
“The run-up to this Budget has been a shambles,” Mr Cocking said. “It’s painfully clear that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are out of their depth – flip flopping from one position to another in a desperate attempt to appease their own left-wing backbenchers and cling to their jobs.”
A survey carried out by FairFuelUK showed that even Labour supporters did not want to see an increase of fuel duty. 11% of the 16,468 poll said they wanted to scrap it all together, while more than half (54.7%) wanted it to be at least cut. 23% wanted it to be frozen where it is, while just 6.7% said they would be happy with an increase in fuel duty.
“How can Rachel Reeves ignore the wants and opinions of the people who gave her political power?” FairFuelUK questioned. The group believe that this is pushing “to stop us all driving and to be imprisoned in the unelected globalists’ 15-minute cities, to progress Labour’s bankrupting journey to a pointless Net-Zero.”
“How can Rachel Reeves ignore the wants and opinions of the people who gave her political power?” FairFuel UK asked (Image: Getty)
Howard Cox, Founder of FairFuelUK, said: “Keeping Fuel Duty frozen at the very least will be one of the best fiscal stimuli for this unpopular government’s chances of restoring faith in its leadership. In contrast, hiking it could be the final political blow in Labour’s succession of self-inflicted disasters.
“Fuel duty has remained frozen for the past 15 years, currently standing at 6p below its level when the Labour Party was last in power. This has been of immense benefit to Britain’s motorists and has significantly strengthened the Treasury’s finances by reducing inflationary pressure.”
The Centre for Economic and Business Research predicted for FairFuelUK that raising fuel duty would bring only short-term, minimal benefits to the Treasury. They also strongly suggested that raising fuel duty would result in a decline of more than 60% in tax revenue to the Treasury within five years.
