{"id":503832,"date":"2026-03-30T17:53:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:53:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/503832\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T17:53:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T17:53:10","slug":"petrol-and-diesel-prices-prompt-calls-for-rachel-reeves-to-cut-fuel-duty-as-businesses-face-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/503832\/","title":{"rendered":"Petrol and diesel prices prompt calls for Rachel Reeves to cut fuel duty as businesses face ‘collapse’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced demands to cut the rate of fuel duty immediately to protect petrol and diesel drivers from high costs at pumps across the UK.<\/p>\n

New research has shown that 36.4 per cent of sole traders, including plumbers and electricians, have said that current pump prices could drive their businesses to “the brink of collapse”.<\/p>\n

Motorists are currently paying 152p per litre for petrol, the highest in 28 months, while drivers are charged an average of 181.2p for diesel – the most expensive rate since December 2022.<\/p>\n

Since the outbreak of war in Iran, forecourts have massively increased prices, costing the average person with a 55-litre car \u00a310.55 more for petrol and a staggering \u00a321.35 for diesel.<\/p>\n

In just over a month, petrol has jumped 19p per litre, while almost 39p has been added to the price of diesel, marking an increase of 27.3 per cent.<\/p>\n

Experts are now calling for the Chancellor to take action to protect motorists at the pump, with support growing for a cut to the rate of fuel duty.<\/p>\n

While Labour has confirmed that it will extend the 5p per litre cut to fuel duty until September, it will begin to roll these measures back over the next year.<\/p>\n

The 5p cut was launched by the previous Conservative Government in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and has been extended every year since.<\/p>\n

\"Chancellor<\/p>\n

Campaigners and drivers have called on the Chancellor to slash the rate of fuel duty to reduce petrol and diesel costs <\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

In the most recent Autumn Budget, Rachel Reeves said the fuel duty cut would be reversed in three stages, with a 1p reduction in September, 2p in December and 2p in March 2027.<\/p>\n

Howard Cox, founder of FairFuelUK, emphasised that a poll showed 95.4 per cent of respondents called for fuel duty to be cut immediately to lower fuel prices.<\/p>\n

He also called for the Government to ensure pump pricing remains “fair, honest and transparent”, suggesting that a “PumpWatch” regulatory body could be created.<\/p>\n

The campaigner added: “The Chancellor and any sensible economist in the Treasury must promise to keep fuel duty frozen for the duration of this Parliament. <\/p>\n

\"Petrol<\/p>\n

Petrol and diesel prices have soared to their highest rates in more than two years <\/p>\n

| GETTY<\/p>\n

“However, even more beneficial to the economy and small businesses, she must cut fuel duty now, and remove the immorally levied VAT on fuel duty.”<\/p>\n

The RAC has warned that eight in 10 motorists depend on their cars and that the financial burden of fuel prices is growing at a “particularly rapid rate” for diesel owners.<\/p>\n

The price of oil continues to take a toll, with a barrel soaring above $115 (\u00a385) earlier today, ensuring that forecourts cannot lower prices across the UK.<\/p>\n

Experts have warned that these prices could continue to climb in the coming days and weeks, especially as tensions in the Middle East show no signs of easing.<\/p>\n

\"OilOil prices have surged once again to above $115 (\u00a387) | OILPRICE.COM<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister’s spokesperson said the Government would “plan for all eventualities” when pressed on the potential for fuel shortages.<\/p>\n

They added: “To be very clear, as the PM has said and as the Government have said, and indeed industry have said, fuel production and imports are continuing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK benefits from diverse and resilient supply. Petrol stations in the UK are well-stocked nationally and any suggestion otherwise is incorrect.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced demands to cut the rate of fuel duty immediately to protect petrol and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,7816,682,1294,655,681,229,1445,56,44208,54,55],"class_list":["post-503832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-business","tag-cars","tag-diesel","tag-economy","tag-lifestyle","tag-petrol","tag-politics","tag-rachel-reeves","tag-uk","tag-uk-politics","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}