Fuel duty ‘could go UP for the first time in a DECADE’ hitting 37 million drivers in the pocket as Dominic Cummings looks to raise £4billion for Boris Johnson’s investment plans – despite election pledge to keep the tax frozen
- New chancellor Rishi Sunak said to be ready to increase petrol and diesel levy
- The move being explored at the behest of Dominic Cummings to raise cash
- Fair Fuel UK said the UK’s drivers were already ‘the worlds highest taxed’
Boris Johnson could break an election pledge not to increase fuel duty, hitting millions of drivers in the pocket it was reported today.
New chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to be ready to increase the levy on petrol and diesel in the budget next month in line with inflation, potentially adding 2p to a litre.
The move is said to be being explored at the behest of Mr Johnson’s powerful chief aide Dominic Cummings, who wants to raise £4billion to find infrastructure improvements, especially in the North.
But the alleged plot for the first increase since 2010 sparked a furious backlash, with campaign group Fair Fuel UK urging people to help it fight any change.
A spokesman said the UK’s drivers were already ‘the worlds highest taxed drivers’.
Freezing the duty instead of increasing it in line with inflation saves drivers around £1.50 every time they fill up.
But it also costs the Treasury billions in lost revenue and is also seen by some environmental campaigners as subsidising people responsible for damaging the planet.
The move is said to be being explored at the behest of Mr Johnson’s powerful chief aide Dominic Cummings
New chancellor Rishi Sunak is said to be ready to increase the level on petrol and diesel in the budget next month in line with inflation, potentially adding 2p to a litre
Freezing the duty instead of increasing it in line with inflation saves drivers around £1.50 every time they fill up
In a pre-election speech on December 4 Mr Johnson announced that a fuel duty freeze which would financially benefit 37million motorists would be in the first post-Brexit budget.
The plans is said to be one of the areas where he clashed with ex-chancellor Sajid Javid, who wanted to keep it in place, while Mr Johnson was happy to see it removed.
However, any increase could be delayed until 2021.