Sunak hints at fuel duty cut

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is poised to cut fuel duty this week in a bid to stave off a cost of living crisis the wake of the Ukraine invasion.

Hope of 5p per litre reduction has been raised after Chancellor Rishi Sunak said he would help families struggling with the cost of living when he presents his “mini-budget” on Wednesday (23).

Hinting at the move on Saturday (19), the Chancellor said he was determined the cost of filling up a car should not become “prohibitively expensive”.

Sunak acknowledged that energy prices were “the number one priority” for people at the moment and he knew fuel prices were “a big issue”, The Guardian reported.

 “It’s something that’s challenging to families, I get that,” he said. 

He said the government’s policy was to take “targeted action where we think there is most acute pressure”.

“Where we can make a difference, of course we will,” he said over the weekend.

Speaking ahead of his Spring Statement, Sunak assured he would ‘stand by’ hard-pressed families, but also warned he could not fully offset the impact of soaring prices.

Fuel prices have soared in recent weeks as the Russian invasion of Ukraine piled more pressure on the oil industry, where prices were already climbing.

Petrol in the country is now an average of 165.9p per litre and diesel is 177.8p per litre while the Chancellor has  been under increasing pressure to make changes to either fuel duty or the rate of VAT.

Fuel duty along with VAT currently make up 52 percent of the forecourt cost of a litre of petrol and 50 percent diesel. A 5p per litre reduction could cut the cost of filling an average family car by around £2.75, reports said.