The prime minister and chancellor are under pressure to follow European countries and take action to protect consumers from rapidly rising fuel prices after campaigners accused ministers of treating drivers as a “cash cow for the Treasury”.
Oil prices, which have a significant effect on the wholesale cost of fuel, have soared in response to Iran’s stranglehold on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, pushing up pump prices and piling pressure on the government to abandon a planned increase in fuel duty due in September.
