The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, continued her attacks on forecourt operators today, telling the House of Commons some retailers were selling fuel at 180p a litre, and that the government will “not tolerate price gouging”.
She added that she will be meeting with forecourt operators this week and will “not hesitate to call out retailers who fail to provide data to the Fuel Finder”. While around 90% of retailers have registered with the scheme, a far smaller proportion is sharing live pricing data.
In December last year, Reeves drew the ire of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) which wrote to her criticising her “disappointing rhetoric” after she referred to “rip off” fuel retailers in her Budget speech.
That letter appears not to have been heeded, however, as the Chancellor today doubled down on her scorn for the sector, telling the House of Commons:
“Yesterday, some petrol retailers charged almost 180p per litre, while others were charging less than 130p per litre. This government will not tolerate price gouging, and I will be meeting with petrol retailers this week to raise concerns and to get prices down at the pumps.”
She added: “Let me be absolutely clear: I will not tolerate any company exploiting the current crisis to make excess profits at the consumer’s expense”.
The PRA has today written to Reeves asking which forecourt operators she intends to meet, as the industry body is not aware of any such appointments.
