Lib Dems press for 10p fuel duty cut until Christmas in £2bn cost-of-living pitch

Sir Ed Davey has called on the government to cut fuel duty by 10p a litre immediately, at least until Christmas, as part of a cost-of-living package unveiled at the Liberal Democrats’ annual conference in Brighton.

The Lib Dem leader said a 10p cut would knock 12p a litre off prices at the pumps and cost about £2bn over three months — which he claimed would be “self-funding” through the energy profits levy, gas taxes, VAT and fuel duty. He blamed higher petrol prices on what he called “Trump’s mad war with Iran” and also urged the government to scrap a planned permanent fuel duty rise due in January.

Fuel duty was frozen under the Conservatives in March 2022; the planned 3p rise due in September was pushed back to the end of this year. In a speech to the conference on Tuesday, Davey will also call for the bus fare cap to be cut from £3 to £1, rail fares to fall by 10%, and VAT to be dropped from public electric vehicle charging.

Labour chair Bridget Phillipson told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that Chancellor John Healey would be “open to any and all suggestions ahead of the budget”, but that the government had already acted on fuel duty.

Sources

• Perspective Media: Lib Dems press for 10p fuel duty cut until Christmas — perspectivemedia.com (PA)
• Liberal Democrats: Cut the Cost — Keep Britain Moving — libdems.org.uk