PUMP FICTION

AA boss slams fuel retailers not passing on price fall

MOTORING bosses yesterday demanded ministers step in to force fuel retailers to pass on falling wholesale prices to drivers.

AA president Edmund King warned families were struggling to make ends meet due to the crippling cost of petrol.

He said: “Pump prices are now more like ‘pump fiction’ as they don’t reflect the general downward trends we have been seeing in wholesale prices.”

This week, unleaded hit a new average high of 191.1p a litre while diesel remains just shy of the £2 a litre mark at 198.96p.

Mr King said: “The Prime Minister has hinted at action but we need more than hints. Pressure to force price transparency and a cut in duty would be a step in the right direction.”

Boris Johnson signalled there may be more support on the way for drivers struggling to pay record breaking prices to keep their cars on the road. At the G7 summit in Bavaria, he said cashstrapped Brits were thinking “this Government could do more to help”.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s 5p a litre cut in fuel duty in March has failed to bring any relief at the pumps.

Yesterday, campaign group Fairfueluk demanded a 20p per litre cut in fuel duty. This would follow the lead of other G7 countries such as Germany and Italy, which have slashed it by 25p.

Howard Cox, Fairfueluk founder, said: “Even France has reduced the heinous regressive levy by a double digit 13p. But all the UK has done is a paltry 5p, which didn’t even touch the sides.”

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams added: “We strongly hope pump prices have peaked for the time being and will now start to decrease in line with wholesale prices, which reduced last week. That, however, is the hands of retailers.”

MOTORISTS are being taken for a ride, even if they cannot afford to fill their cars.

The wholesale cost of petrol has started to fall but you would not think so at the pumps.

Suppliers are paying 5p less per litre than at the beginning of June, a saving not being passed on to customers.

AA president Edmund King was spot on when he called fuel prices “pump fiction” for failing to reflect wholesale costs.

So why, drivers will ask, is the Government not doing more to stop what looks like blatant profiteering by retailers?

With unleaded at 191.1p a litre and diesel nudging £2, running a car has never cost so much. Rishi Sunak’s 5p-a-litre cut in fuel duty was not enough. The German government cut 25p a litre and the Spanish 17p.

No wonder motorists are being driven round the bend.