SLASH DUTY, RISHI URGED

RECORD fuel pump prices could deliver the Treasury a £1.9billion windfall, analysis by The Mail on Sunday shows.

As drivers face paying more than £100 to fill their tanks this weekend, 50 Conservative MPs have joined motoring groups in calling for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to shave 5p a litre off fuel duty. Ministers also privately complain that the Chancellor has been too slow to offer help to drivers.

Experts say much of a 5p fuel duty cut would be offset by the windfall from 20 per cent VAT which is added to pump prices. Motorists are paying 6p a litre more in VAT than they were this time a year ago. If prices stay the same for a year, it would amount to £1.9billion of extra VAT, analysis indicates.

A cut in fuel duty – currently 57.95p on every litre – should stay until oil falls back down, the AA said. Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘Every time fuel prices go up, the Government should be cutting the [fuel duty] rate to help mitigate the price rise.’