logo
Hard-pressed Brits face MORE misery at the pumps as fears mount Rachel Reeves will hike fuel duty

Hard-pressed Brits face MORE misery at the pumps as fears mount Rachel Reeves will hike fuel duty

Scottish Sun2 days ago
AA boss Edmund King also warned any rise at the pumps 'could be catastrophic' for the UK economy
TAKING US FOR FUELS Hard-pressed Brits face MORE misery at the pumps as fears mount Rachel Reeves will hike fuel duty
DRIVERS already hammered by soaring motoring taxes could face fresh pain at the pump with a fuel duty hike.
Rachel Reeves is understood to be 'considering everything' at the next Budget after her welfare U-turn — prompting fears for motorists.
Advertisement
Top Tory Dame Priti Patel said a hike would mean a 'betrayal of working people'.
The AA says motorists are already being squeezed, with Vehicle Excise Duty rising by £30 since 2022, plus millions more paid in parking charges, tolls and congestion fees.
AA boss Edmund King also warned any rise at the pumps 'could be catastrophic' for the UK economy.
He added: 'The added danger is increased duty simply fuels higher inflation. The strong message to the Chancellor is 'keep it down'.'
Advertisement
The AA says motorists are already being squeezed from all sides, with Vehicle Excise Duty jumping from £165 to £195 since 2022, and millions more paid in parking charges, tolls and congestion fees.
Drivers of older cars, including popular models like the Ford Fiesta and VW Golf, also face a £160 tax hike when they are eventually forced to upgrade to newer vehicles.
The Sun's Keep It Down campaign has helped freeze fuel duty since 2011 - saving drivers thousands but ministers are under pressure to find cash after billions were pledged to reverse planned welfare cuts.
A Treasury spokesperson said: 'We extended the fuel duty cut this year, saving drivers £3billion, and we're investing £1.6billion to end the pothole plague by fixing up to seven million extra potholes.'
Advertisement
Pressed on whether she would raise taxes, Reeves said: 'Of course there is a cost to the welfare changes that parliament voted through this week and that will be reflected in the budget.
'But I'm also very, very clear that [the] stability that we've been able to return to the economy, which has enabled the Bank of England to cut interests rates four times, is only possible because of the fiscal discipline which is underpinned by the fiscal rules.
Never Mind The Ballots Fuel Duty Debate
"And we'll be sticking to those because they're absolutely vital for the living standards of working people and also the costs that businesses face.'
1
Hard-pressed Brits could face a fuel duty hike after Labour's welfare U-turn
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves's former top adviser warns
Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves's former top adviser warns

The Independent

timean hour ago

  • The Independent

Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves's former top adviser warns

Rachel Reeves must U-turn on her manifesto pledge not to raise taxes for working people or Sir Keir Starmer 's government will be forced to abandon other key priorities, one of the chancellor's former top advisers has warned. Jim O'Neill, a former Goldman Sachs chief turned Treasury minister who quit the Conservatives and later advised Ms Reeves, said she faces no choice but to abandon key parts of her economic policy – including her commitment not to raise income tax, national insurance contributions for employees or VAT. Questioning whether that promise was now sustainable, he told The Independent: 'Without changing some of the big taxes, welfare and pensions, they [ Labour ] can't commit to things like Northern Powerhouse Rail, small modular nuclear reactors, and various other things that will make an investment and growth difference.' His comments come in the wake of a disastrous week for Sir Keir's government as ministers were forced to abandon key parts of welfare reforms to stop a rebellion by Labour MPs, leaving a £5bn black hole in its spending plans. In a week defined by a distressed Ms Reeves shedding tears during Prime Minister's Questions, the pressure on the government to balance the books and dramatically change strategy has increased, with the chancellor admitting that the U-turn came at a 'cost'. But with Labour dropping spectacularly in the polls – and the prime minister facing growing disquiet from the back benches – mention of the government's missions has all but disappeared, while the economy stagnates. Lord O'Neill claimed that part of the problem was that the government was caught in short-term thinking about Nigel Farage and Reform, who have taken a large poll lead. 'They need to stop worrying about Farage, they have four years before that should matter,' he said. Reflecting on the problems with the welfare reform bill, he said: 'The past few days should force government to truly prioritise, link specific priorities to their growth mission, get out of the 24/7 social media, and, crucially, recognise it can't deliver on all three of its fiscal rules, growth mission and manifesto tax commitments. Something has to give. 'I'd personally abandon triple lock on pensions, and the current welfare bill, and say they are going to pursue more serious welfare reform.' Top pollster Luke Tryl, UK director at More in Common, told The Independent the government would be better off pushing through big tax hikes now in order to fix public services before the next election. He said: 'At this stage, the government would be better to do a broad-based tax rise and ensure they can deliver on making Britain feel like it's working better, than risk a continuation of the public feeling Britain is totally broken. 'Having boxed themselves in, breaking the promise won't be without pain, but the alternative – four years of the public not seeing change – is far worse politically and for the mood of the country.' On Friday, Ms Reeves refused to rule out tax rises in the wake of what she admitted was the 'damaging' climbdown on welfare cuts. The chancellor is said to have warned that any tax hikes this autumn are likely to be more painful than those she pursued last October, with all low-hanging fruit options having been taken. Asked whether she could rule out tax hikes, she told The Guardian: 'I'm not going to, because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that.' The government is, however, believed to be opposing growing calls from Labour MPs for a wealth tax to fill the hole in the public finances. The UK's leading economic think tanks have, meanwhile, warned that tax rises are inevitable with speculation that there could be a raid on pension funds and new rules to prevent people offsetting tax by putting their money into pensions. Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said: 'If we are looking at £30bn – which is quite plausible – you can't see a way in which you raise that kind of money without hitting people on middle incomes. 'If you are looking for big money then it has to be something in income tax, national insurance or VAT.' Ben Caswell, senior economist at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, said: 'It seems, given the spending review and the allocation of funds, raising taxes in the autumn seems almost inevitable at this point.' Tax expert Arj Kumar, founder of tax advisers Taxd, warned: 'The next Budget will likely see Rachel Reeves dig deeper, raising taxes further to cover government spending on defence and a boost to infrastructure. If these hikes continue to cripple businesses, it's working families who will pay the ultimate price.' The warnings come as the prime minister strongly hinted that the government is going to bring in tax rises at the next Budget. In an interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson, the presenter claimed that Sir Keir had said: ''I'm not going to put your taxes up,'' adding: 'Then taxes went up.' The prime minister hit back: 'Nick, be fair, we had a manifesto commitment that we wouldn't increase income tax, national insurance and VAT for working people. That was a manifesto commitment. That is what I said to you last time, and that is what we've kept to. 'So the one thing we didn't do in the last Budget was we didn't breach that manifesto commitment. We're not going to breach that manifesto commitment.' Critics have noted that his response only closed the door to tax rises on the big three – income tax, VAT and national insurance. Already, a leaked memo from deputy prime minister Angela Rayner to Ms Reeves has revealed that the left of the party is pushing for so-called wealth taxes on the superrich and big corporations. Ms Rayner outlined eight possible new wealth taxes instead of cutting public services further.

Map reveals UK's pothole hellscape with thousands fed up with state of roads in major city – is your area in the top 10?
Map reveals UK's pothole hellscape with thousands fed up with state of roads in major city – is your area in the top 10?

Scottish Sun

timean hour ago

  • Scottish Sun

Map reveals UK's pothole hellscape with thousands fed up with state of roads in major city – is your area in the top 10?

Across the UK, drivers are growing increasingly frustrated with pothole-filled roads, poor maintenance and the stress of deteriorating conditions DRIVING PAINS Map reveals UK's pothole hellscape with thousands fed up with state of roads in major city – is your area in the top 10? Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THE state of the UK's crumbling roads is driving residents around the bend, with motorists in major cities growing increasingly frustrated by the deteriorating conditions. Motoring experts have unveiled the cities where frustration with potholes and congestion is at its peak - revealing that these issues are playing a significant role in one in three Brits losing their passion for driving. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 A pothole plague and bumper-to-bumper congestion - why millions of Brits are falling out of love with driving this summer Credit: Getty 3 Driving in the UK has gone from a symbol of freedom to a stressful chore, as worsening roads leave motorists fed up Credit: Getty 3 Belfast leads the frustration over potholes As it's the summer, many motorists are preparing to pack up their cars and head off on their family holidays. But according to a new report from car finance giant Carmoola, millions are simply dreading getting behind the wheel - due to the country's worsening roads and traffic. A particular issue is the UK's so-called 'pothole plague', contributing to a third of drivers (32%) saying they no longer enjoy driving. Hot-headed road users - described as 'aggressive or impatient drivers' - are the main reason half (49%) of Brits have become disillusioned, while 46% claim the stress of driving has taken all the joy out of it. Aidan Rushby, chief executive of Carmoola, said: 'We have uncovered a very human truth. 'That driving, once a symbol of freedom and adventure, has become something many people now dread.' Belfast drivers are the most ticked off when it comes to the conditions of their roads, with 26% saying they're overly frustrated with the state of potholes. Meanwhile, when it comes to congestion, 38% of Glaswegians say bumper-to-bumper congestion is what riles them up the most. These statistics highlight why only a quarter of road users view driving as a source of escape, while 34% see it merely as a practical means to get from A to B. Indeed, many say they simply find driving boring and would choose almost anything else above getting behind the wheel. Keir Starmer says councils must prove they are making potholes repairs or lose funding To that end, 20% would rather organise their sock drawer and 15% say they would sit through a three-hour meeting instead. 13% would prefer to watch paint dry and 9% would opt to do a tax return. UK'S WORST AREAS FOR POTHOLE FRUSTRATION REVEALED Belfast – 26% Nottingham – 22% Plymouth – 22% Birmingham – 20% Manchester – 19% Newcastle – 18% Cardiff – 17% Southampton – 17% London – 17% Bristol – 16% Edinburgh – 15% Glasgow – 15% Brighton – 13% Norwich – 12% Liverpool – 11% Leeds – 9% Sheffield – 9% POTHOLE PLAGUE Back in March, it was found that our pothole-plagued roads will take 12 years and nearly £17billion to fix, according to a report. More than half of local streets have less than 15 years of life left, says a survey by the Asphalt Industry Alliance. But, on average, they are re-surfaced only once every 93 years. AIA boss David Giles laid bare the scale of the problem, explaining how, despite £20billion being thrown at road maintenance in the past decade, the short-term approach has failed. He said: 'There have been no significant improvements in structural road conditions.' The AIA claims getting roads back to ideal condition would take 12 years and cost a corking £16.81 billion. Its survey also found 94 per cent of local authority highway teams believe there has been no improvement to their roads over the past year, with two thirds saying they have got worse. And despite councils spending £137.4million filling 1.9million potholes last year, the repair backlog continues to balloon. The Department for Transport said: 'We're investing £1.6billion to help councils resurface local roads and fix the equivalent of up to seven million extra potholes over the next financial year.'

A wealth tax will only make the Chancellor's problems worse
A wealth tax will only make the Chancellor's problems worse

Telegraph

time2 hours ago

  • Telegraph

A wealth tax will only make the Chancellor's problems worse

Rachel Reeves's tears during Prime Minister's Questions pushed up the 10-year UK gilt yield from 4.51pc to 4.66pc in a matter of minutes. Whatever the explanation for the Chancellor's House of Commons meltdown, global investors weren't impressed – imposing a £1bn-plus increase in the annual interest bill on the UK's £2.6 trillion stock of national debt Ahead of Wednesday's parliamentary snuffles, there had clearly been tensions between Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The Chancellor and Welfare Secretary Liz Kendall have spent weeks trying to sell reforms to Labour MPs, designed to save around £5bn a year in sickness and disability welfare payments by 2030. No one was talking about actually cutting the welfare bill under this heading. Spending on sickness and disability benefits was set to rise from £65bn in 2023-24 to £101bn by 2029-30, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). This huge 55pc increase is driven by an expected surge in Personal Independence Payments (Pip) to some 4.2m working-age adults, around one in eight of the work force. The Labour leadership's attempts to tighten benefit eligibility rules were designed to lower that annual bill to £96bn by 2030 – still a huge 48pc increase from when Labour took office last July. But Starmer bottled even these feeble reforms. Faced with Labour backbenchers outraged at any slowdown in the growth of state largesse, the Prime Minister caved – blowing another £5bn hole in Reeves's budget. Labour insiders now admit the party's attempted welfare reform will save 'more or less no money'.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store