Rachel Reeves has been urged to “get a grip” and keep the cap on fuel duty in this year’s Budget, as Tory MP Lewis Cocking warned of a potential “war on motorists” if it is scrapped.
Speaking to GB News, Mr Cocking, FairFuel founder Howard Cox and Lord Craig Mackinlay stood outside Downing Street to voice their concerns for the Chancellor’s looming Budget statement on Wednesday.
Standing outside No10, the campaigners spoke to the People’s Channel’s Political Editor Christopher Hope after handing in a petition, campaigning for fuel duty to remain capped in this year’s Budget, as it has been for number of years.
The Campaigners for FairFuel UK submitted the same petition to those in Downing Street for several years and revealed almost 160,000 people signed this year’s document.
Detailing the petition, Reform UK’s 2024 London mayoral candidate Mr Cox told GB News: “Over 152,000 have signed it, and we’re delighted to have done that, and it could have been a lot more, but that’s the time we’ve had to actually produce this.
“And so I’m delighted. Last year we had 130,000 this year 152,000.”
Delivering his bleak prediction for the Budget, Mr Cocking warned: “I think they will lift fuel duty, and I think it’s going to be a disastrous Budget tomorrow. They’re really going to hit working people who they’ve said they will protect.
“This tax is one of the worst taxes we’ve got in this country, and will really hit hard working carers that drive in our communities, and it will really hit the poorest in our society the most.”
Howard Cox has hit out at Rachel Reeves ahead of the Budget, warning the Chancellor against scrapping the fuel duty cap
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PA / GB NEWS
Criticising Labour’s spending and inability to “turn off the spending tap”, Lord Mackinlay told Christopher: “They’re just looking to spend, they can’t seem to stop the spending tap, so they want to tax everything that moves. And literally the thing that moves a lot in this country are vehicles.
“The EV promise of low taxes, that’s likely to be broken with a new paper mile. Sadiq Khan is going to start raising congestion charge on EVs, the 5p fuel duty cut that we had post Covid, I have to say, is probably very highly likely to be lost this time, but it’s the most regressive of taxes going to hit the poorest hardest.”
He added: “It’s going to hit all those who serve the community and it could flow through the supply chain. It could even add half a percent to inflation.
“So I would beg this woman in No11 not to do this, but sadly, I’ve got a feeling this might be yet another manifesto pledge that gets broken tomorrow.”
A papier mache Rachel Reeves appeared outside Parliament just hours before the Chancellor unveils her tax-hiking Budget
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Highlighting he has been campaigning for fairer fuel for more than a decade, Mr Cox explained: “I started this campaign in 2011, and that’s when George Osborne was the Chancellor of Exchequer, and he actually reduced it by a penny.
“Because at that time, we would have a fuel price escalator, inflation plus 2p or 3p every year, and if it hadn’t been for the campaigning work of good people like Craig, and now with Lewis, we would have been seeing prices at pump probably 50p to a pound more at the moment.
“And let’s not forget, at this very moment, we’re still the highest tax drivers in the world.”
He added: “It’s an unusual thing about taxes, usually it happens at midnight the changes, but last year she [Rachel Reeves] actually said that she’s going to keep it frozen till April 26.”
Mr Cox, Lord Mackinlay, and Conservative MP Lewis Cocking told GB News
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GB NEWS
As Christopher argued Britons believe the fuel duty is a “tax on motorists”, Mr Cocking said: “Absolutely, this is a war on motorists.
“Labour do not care about the working people up and down the country. My constituents can’t afford for fuel duty to go up.”
He concluded: “They go out day and night working, paying their taxes, and they cannot afford to pay any more.
“The Labour Government needs to get a grip and cut public spending.”