A protest at the government’s lack of action over rising fuel prices has taken place in London. The Reform-led event is said to have seen some farmers, lorry drivers and tradespeople gather in London to demand a cut on fuel duty.
Dubbed the ‘national fuel tax protest’, the event was due to begin at 9am on Monday, April 27, but reports so far indicate the event has been small, while the organisers have decided to only gather in Whitehall and not disrupt roads.
London’s protest sits in stark contrast to those in Ireland, which saw the army brought in to restore order, and the government cave in to protestors’ demands to cut tax on petrol and diesel.
Reform MP Robert Jenrick says that “as fuel prices have shot up, the Chancellor has been raking it in”, a reference to VAT takes from fuel that have risen as prices have climbed.
Howard Cox, the founder of campaigning group Fair Fuel UK, has lent his support to the protest, and claims that British drivers are being “punished by this Labour administration”. He puts government’s increased VAT take from rising fuel prices at £300m, and says “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.”
Cox cites measures taken to reduce fuel prices in other countries, which include a three-month 50% cut on excise duty enacted by the Australian government, a two-month cut in Germany, and other examples in countries including India, Vietnam, Canada and Brazil.
Every litre of petrol and diesel sold in the UK sees 52.95p go to The Treasury, while 20% VAT is applied both to fuel and its duty. The 5ppl discount introduced in 2022 to offset price rises driven by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is due to be wound down from September, first with a 1ppl increase, followed by a pair of 2ppl rises in December, and March 2027.
At present, a litre of unleaded stands at 157.21p on average, while diesel is 189.76p, up by around 24p and 47p respectively since the start of the Iranian conflict.
