Jeremy Hunt and Rishi Sunak are facing demands to commit to freezing fuel duty, with Tory MPs warning against hiking up the tax.
Backbenchers have warned that if the Chancellor and Prime Minister don’t commit to freezing fuel duty then rates could rise by 23 per cent.
Tory MPs Priti Patel and Jonathan Gullis are demanding more regulation on fuel and the Government to restrict any further increases on fuel duty .
According to a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR), a hike on rates could add 2.3 per cent to inflation, hold GDP down by one per cent and put 31,000 jobs at risk.
Priti Patel is calling for the government to freeze fuel duty
House of Commons
Surging fuel prices and rising inflation was partially caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
“We are campaigning with Howard Cox for PumpWatch – a regulator, with legislative powers, to ensure motorists are not exploited,” Priti Patel and Jonathan Gullis wrote in the Daily Express.
“Most importantly, they will ensure there is fairness and transparency, putting the 37 million motorists in this country first.
“We have written to both HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy outlining the proposals, and we are pleased to have the support of over 30 MPs.”
Between October 10 and December 8, 2022 petrol prices fell by just three per cent while the wholesale petrol price dropped by 22 per cent.
And despite diesel prices scarcely decreasing at the pumps, wholesale prices have plunged by 25 per cent.
Overall, the price differential between petrol and diesel jumped a huge 400 per cent.
In the last six months retail petrol has fallen 25 per cent yet its wholesale price dropped more by 41 per cent.
Jonathan Gullis is campaigning for more regulation on fuel companies
House of Commons
If pump prices had fallen at the same rate as wholesale levels petrol would be at the pumps 10p to 14p lower and diesel 20p lower.
From 2015 up until 2020 average profit per litre for petrol and diesel was around 8 to 9p.
However, from 2020 petrol profit has doubled to around 19p per litre and diesel has more than doubled to 24p per litre.
Next year, Shell is expected to announce a record $40billion net profit for 2022.
