FUEL duty has been frozen for a 14th historic year in a massive win for drivers and The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt used today’s Budget to stop petrol prices rising with inflation, while also extending the temporary 5p cut.
PAChancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt delivering his Budget to the House of Commons[/caption]
The Chancellor himself hailed The Sun’s campaign in his Budget speech.
He told the Commons: “I have listened again to my right honourable friends for Stoke-on-Trent North, Dudley North, Witham and others, as well as the Sun Newspaper’s ‘Keep it Down’ campaign.
“I have as a result decided to maintain the 5p cut and freeze fuel duty for a further 12 months.
“This will save the average car driver £50 next year and bring total savings since the 5p cut was introduced to around £250.”
Motorists have enjoyed frozen rates since 2011 thanks to our peerless crusade to protect people at the pump.
Today’s announcement means they will be saving £16.50 each time they fill up.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) says the continuing policy has kept £80billion out the taxman’s hands — with independent experts putting it at nearer £90billion when today’s changes are taken into account.
If the duty had been allowed to rise in line with inflation since 2010, Britain’s drivers would now be paying 93.47p on a litre of fuel rather than the current 52.95p once VAT is included.
The Centre for Economics and Business Research calculates that would have been around 47 per cent higher representing 30p more a litre — a saving of around £16.50 when filling up an average 55-litre family car.
The 5p duty freeze announced by PM Rishi Sunak in the wake of the war in Ukraine was due to come to an end this month.
But Mr Hunt — who spared drivers a 12p a litre fuel hike in his first full Budget last year — extended it for another year in his make-or-break pre-election update on UK finances.
The announcement follows another tough month for drivers after the price of unleaded rose from 140.75p a litre to 144.76p in February — adding around £2 to the cost of filling up, says the RAC.
Diesel went from 148.53p to 153.22p a litre. Filling a 55-litre tank would cost £84.27, a £2.60 rise.
There are fears March could be worse after oil-rich members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreed to cut output to push up prices.
But dozens of Tory MPs wrote to Mr Hunt to say it would be “catastrophic” for the public and business if fuel duty rose in line with inflation.
FairFuelUK founder Howard Cox and Tory MP Jonathan Gullis marched to No10 to deliver a petition on the matter signed by 126,000 drivers.
The Sun’s 14-year campaign to freeze fuel duty
The Sun has backed drivers as part of the Keep It Down campaign with rates of fuel duty not rising since the start of 2011.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt thanked Sun readers for helping him to make the case to freeze fuel duty in his last Budget.
The freeze meant drivers would not have to face a potential £100 rise in motoring costs as a result of a 12p per litre duty hike.
Our decade-long campaign fights on behalf of readers to freeze duty on petrol and diesel to help deal with rising living costs.
Mr Hunt said: “I know how much Sun readers are feeling the pinch right now.
“Whether you drive a van, a hatchback or a people carrier I know how much you need to be on the road.
“Keeping it down means hard-working people will have an extra £100 this year without having to cut down using their vehicle.”