Jeremy Hunt wants to extend 5p fuel duty cut for a year amid fears that inflicting more financial pain on motorists is ‘politically toxic’
- Jeremy Hunt said there is a ‘strong precedent’ to extend cuts on petrol and diesel
- This comes amid concerns that further motorist costs would be ‘politically toxic’
- Last year, Rishi Sunak cut fuel duty by 5p – the first reduction in a decade
Jeremy Hunt wants to extend the 5p fuel duty cut for another year, reports claimed last night.
The Chancellor said there was a ‘strong precedent’ to extend the cut on petrol and diesel amid concerns that further costs on motorists would be ‘politically toxic’.
The Treasury is also facing pressure to freeze fuel duty for another year. The decision to press ahead with the two measures would cost the Government an estimated £6 billion.
‘Hunt doesn’t want to do anything that stokes inflation,’ a friend of the Chancellor told the The Times.
Jeremy Hunt wants to extend the 5p fuel duty cut for another year, reports claimed last night
‘He keeps telling colleagues the best tax cut for people is a cut in inflation. But the Tories have also frozen fuel duty for a decade, so he gets that it’s a strong precedent to follow, albeit bloody expensive.’
In March last year, Rishi Sunak cut fuel duty by 5p in response to a rise in pump prices caused by the Ukraine war – the first reduction in a decade. The £2.4 billion move runs until March when fuel duty is predicted to rise by up to 25 per cent.
Jonathan Gullis, a former Tory minister and leading campaigner on fuel duty, said: “I’ve had many a constructive conversation with Jeremy and believe he understands that keeping the cut in fuel duty will get inflation down and help people in these tough times. It would be political suicide to do anything but keep the 5p cut.’
But the Treasury remains cautious and will not make a decision until closer to the budget on March 15.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith responded: “It’s good he acknowledges we have to cut taxes but the outlook for the economy is pretty strong.
‘I agree the public are not idiots, they want to get the economy growing. Let’s start moving the economy forward by lowering taxes as soon as possible.”
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