New year price hike hits motorists
The 0.76p increase in fuel duty – combined with the rise in VAT to 20% – will hit drivers hard.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“It is a bleak midwinter for motorists with already record petrol prices set to rise significantly with the fuel Duty and VAT increases. And that won’t be the end of it with more increases in fuel duty already scheduled for April.
“Given that each penny increase in fuel duty raises about an extra £500 million for the Exchequer, it is easy to see why the Chancellor is tempted to hike rates. But if the nation’s 34 million motorists are pushed too far they will drive less and the Treasury could actually see their tax take fall.
“At the election there was much talk about a fuel duty stabiliser. Drivers will rightly be wondering what happened to that idea.”
ENDS
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