But one largely overlooked – yet arguably more destructive move – is a Treasury clamour to declare war on motorists with a massive fuel tax hike.

So why does this matter?

The cost of living crisis is biting harder now than at any point since it erupted in late 2021, when rising inflation outpaced wage growth, and continues to cripple families and businesses across Britain.

Fuel prices remain a massive part of household expenditure, particularly for those who depend on vehicles for work, commuting, the school run, caring responsibilities, or the many who live imprisoned in rural areas where they are at the mercy of Third World transport links.

All 405 Labour MPs were invited to a pre-Budget reception held by motoring lobby group FairFuelUK – each invited by an average of 30 constituents – but only one bothered to show up and even then refused to say whether they supported an increase, freeze, or cut in duty.

There can surely be no clearer illustration of how Labour views the workers, toilers, strivers, and common or garden families, all just trying to getting by but who all make this country tick.

It now seems inevitable – just one month before Christmas – that blundering Ms Reeves will end 15 years of forecourt fuel duty freezes and sanction a punitive tax rise that will punish Britain’s 37 million drivers at the pumps.

Cynics might suggest the move will be to appease the party’s net zero zealots, using the parlous state of the public finances as a shield, but it would really be proof positive this government cares not one jot about those who elected it.

Pulling the plug on successive fuel duty freezes is a move that would see millions continue to be fleeced at the forecourt.

Motorists using diesel vehicles remain the highest taxed in the world, with petrol not too far behind.

One doomsday scenario would be a 10p increase – a reversal of former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s 5p Covid cut which has been maintained in successive Budgets but is due to expire in March – plus an additional 5p per litre hike.

This, experts say, would deliver a short-term financial boost to the Treasury’s depleted coffers but ​it would actually be another fiscal own goal and result in a decline of more than 60% in tax revenue within five years.

Although pump prices vary wildly across the UK, the average price for unleaded petrol is now 135p per litre, while diesel is 142p.

If fuel duty is raised, filling up an average family car would cost an extra £6.60, a typical Transit van another £20, and a large HGV an additional £70.

Despite lower pump prices the UK’s annual inflation rate, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index, currently stands at 3.6% due to higher household energy bills and transport costs.

Here in Britain drivers face a double whammy at the pumps with fuel duty, a form of excise tax, levied at a flat rate of 52.95 pence per litre for both petrol and diesel. It has been frozen since 2011-12.

In addition, VAT is also charged on both the product price and the duty at a rate of 20%.

Whatever way one looks at it, it remains a regressive tax.

Every corner of the UK depends on road transport for construction, trade, food, clothing, internet deliveries, postal services, medical support, community interaction, and mental well-being.

Successive duty freezes have allowed more of people’s disposable income, what’s left of it anyway, to be pumped into the economy.

While Ed Miliband continues to chase his Net Zero rainbow, back in the real world, those struggling to make ends meet are becoming ever more convinced Labour is inherently anti-driver and, worse, cocks a snook at those who elected it just 17 months ago.

In FairFuelUK’s 15th annual pre-Budget opinion poll, which has received more than 60,000 responses so far, three in four who voted Labour support either a cut in Fuel Duty or keeping it frozen.

And it’s clear to see why – they think the Government is taking us all for a ride.