Don’t hit drivers with fuel tax rises, say MPs
TORY MPs have warned the new Chancellor not to clobber motorists amid fears of a fuel duty rise.
Working class areas that voted in the Conservatives for the first time will be hit hardest if the price at the pumps goes up, Rishi Sunak was told.
In a letter, the group of new intake MPs claimed scrapping the freeze on petrol and diesel costs would show “that this People’s Government does not actually have, at its heart, the priorities of the people”.
Ms Sunak is understood to be looking at putting up the duty either later this year or next as part of his Budget due on March 11.
It follows claims that senior No 10 advisers want the government to boost its environmental credentials. In the
letter, MPs said: “If the decision was taken to raise taxes on fuel, hard-working people and businesses in blue collar communities, many of which lent us their support at the general election for the first time in generations, will suffer.
“Clobbering these communities with a tax rise in our first Budget would send the wrong message about this government’s priorities.”
The group backed Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to boost public transport across the country but warned many people in towns and villages rely on their cars. “Any decision to scrap the fuel duty freeze must be seen for what it is, a tax rise which would hit our blue collar communities hardest,” they wrote.
The MPs urged the Chancellor to shelve the proposals, warning that working families would struggle to absorb the costs. Duty on petrol and diesel stands at 57.95 pence per litre andVAT is also charged at 20 per cent.
The duty rate has been frozen for nearly a decade, which the Treasury estimates has saved the average driver £1,000. But it means the government has lost out on around £8billion.
Parliamentary analysis found fuel duties take up a larger share of poorer households’ budgets.
Around one in 20 households spend a tenth of their budget on petrol or diesel costs.