Labour urged to scrap 'dishonest double taxation' as petrol and diesel face misery at pumps

Felix Reeves
Mon, 27 Apr 2026 14:48:26 +0000

Reform UK have doubled down on its attack on the Government, urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to extend the 5p fuel duty cut and protect hard-pressed motorists.

Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's Treasury spokesperson, called for drivers to unite in Westminster to protest expensive fuel prices.

He accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of doing "nothing" to help drivers mitigate the high cost of fuel, even as Spain, Canada, Germany and Ireland have cut fuel taxes.

The latest data from RAC Fuel Watch shows that prices remained largely stagnant over the weekend, with a litre of petrol costing 157.17p and diesel drivers paying 189.23p.

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Compared to peak prices seen by drivers almost two weeks ago, motorists have seen prices fall by 1.14p per litre for petrol and 2.3p for diesel.

At its peak, around six weeks after the war in Iran started, average unleaded and diesel prices soared to 158.31p and 191.54p respectively.

Reform UK has consistently called on the Government to extend the rate of fuel duty after it was first cut by the Tories in 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Under present plans, the Treasury will reverse the 5p cut by 1p in September, 2p in December and a final 2p in March.

At this point, Labour could hike fuel duty in line with inflation for the first time in more than a decade, further rising costs for motorists.

Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, attended the protest in Westminster this morning and called on the Chancellor to stop "punishing" drivers.

He said: "The Chancellor is not only clueless about stimulating the economy but also completely insensitive to her lack of support for motorists, small businesses, and the logistics industry when they desperately need her fiscal help.

"Why does Labour despise motorists so much that it keeps refusing to reduce the cost of driving, a fiscal move that would reduce inflation, increase consumer spending, create jobs and deliver monetary growth in a time of real economic crisis?

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"The Treasury must wake up now and cut fuel duty, scrap the dishonest double taxation VAT on fuel duty, and announce they will stop their planned 5p increase in the Autumn Budget. And they must do it now."

Mr Cox cited the £300million extra VAT windfall collected by the Treasury since the conflict in the Middle East began.

The total amount of money collected by the Treasury since the end of February, including so-called "double taxation", stands at £1.8billion.

While fuel prices are expected to fall slowly, as shown by data from RAC Fuel Watch, there are some fears that tensions in the Middle East will continue to impact oil prices.

Oil prices have risen today to above $107 (£79), which could have a knock-on effect on wholesale costs seen across the UK.

Speaking at the protest earlier, Robert Jenrick told GB News: "Prices are surging and the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and the Treasury is doing absolutely nothing.

"She's not even confirmed that she's not going to go ahead with the increase in fuel duty that's coming down the line in September.

"Cancel that increase in fuel duty that's coming down the line in September, and do something as an emergency measure, as finance ministers the world over are doing."