Chancellor Rishi Sunak
(Picture: PA Wire)Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday he would carefully consider calls for a “more substantial” fuel duty cut as the price of petrol at the pumps hit a new high.
The Chancellor was warned by a former Tory Cabinet minister that his 5p cut so far in fuel duty “didn’t really touch the sides”
Ex-Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey called for a reduction of at least 20p per litre to help cash-strapped motorists.
She made the appeal as figures from data firm Experian show the average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts reached a new high of 191.1p on Monday, up by a fraction of a penny from Sunday.
Prices have continued to rise despite the wholesale cost of petrol being around 5p per litre cheaper than early June peaks.
The wholesale cost of diesel has stabilised in recent days.
But average pump prices of the fuel reached a record 199.1p per litre on Saturday, falling slightly to 199p per litre on Monday.
AA president Edmund King, in a nod to Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 dark comedy/crime film Pulp Fiction, 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 is now an urgent situation.
“The Prime Minister has hinted at action but we need more than hints.”
In the Commons at Treasury Questions, Tatton MP Ms McVey said: “I appreciate the Chancellor cut fuel duty by 5p per litre, but that didn’t really touch the sides.
“So can I urge him to be bolder and cut duty by at least 20p per litre as requested by Fair Fuel UK, and which would make a huge difference to individuals and businesses in my patch, not least hauliers where the cost of running a single truck has raised by 17 per cent in the last year?”
Treasury minister Helen Whately said: “I hear my right honourable friend’s request there. I will say to her that the combination of the freeze on fuel duty in the Budget and then the cut in the spring statement is essentially a £5 billion tax cut.
“So this really is substantial support to businesses with the cost of fuel. As I’ve also said, we are taking further steps to support businesses.”
Mr Sunak later insisted he will carefully consider calls for a “more substantial” fuel duty cut when he was challenged on the matter by Conservative MP Philip Davies (Shipley), who is married to Ms McVey.
He said: “Further to the question from my right honourable friend, the member for Tatton, can I urge the Chancellor to think again about the cut in fuel duty?
“Although the one he introduced was welcome, it hasn’t really been noticed by many people and therefore can I urge him to think again about a much more substantial cut in fuel duty, on a temporary basis, just as they’ve done in Germany?”
Mr Sunak replied in the Commons: “I thank my honourable friend for supporting the right honourable member for Tatton, and I’m glad he did.
“What I will say to him is of course I will take all his recommendations under advisement. It is, as my honourable friend pointed out, a £5 billion cut to go with the freeze in fuel duty so it is significant, but we appreciate it is not being felt at the pumps because of the rise in wholesale prices.
“I want to reassure him that the Energy Secretary is in dialogue with the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) to make sure that fuel duty cut is being passed on as well.”
Earlier this month, the Competition and Markets Authority launched a “short and focused review” of how much drivers are being charged for fuel after a request by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
