MPs Warn Fuel Tax Will Hurt The Working Class In Letter To Treasury

Dozens of MPs will deliver a letter to Rishi Sunak on Monday, warning him against hiking fuel duty.

The 36 backbenchers, led by Robert Halfon, say they are “very concerned” about proposals to scrap the freeze, which would see petrol and diesel rise 2p a liter from next month.

They will assemble outside the Treasury office in Westminster for noon to hand a letter to the Chancellor.

It urges the Government against balancing “environmentalism on the backs of working people” and “whacking normal folk hard with higher taxes on fuel”.

Tory grandees including Iain Duncan Smith, David Davis, and Chris Grayling have signed the letter ahead of Wednesday’s budget.

Mr. Halfon told The Telegraph he would be hand-delivering it to warn the Government against raising the “totemic tax”.

He said: “Fuel duty hits working people more than anyone else because people depend on their cars.

“It also impacts on public services too because the NHS, policing will have to pay more in transport.”

He called on Boris Johnson to prove to voters they could “trust” him.

The Education Select Committee Chair added: “Boris Johnson said during the election that there were no plans to raise fuel duty because he understood it has such a huge impact on people on low incomes. People trusted him on that.

“This Government isn’t just about Brexit, it’s about being the workers’ party. It doesn’t matter whether you’re blue-collar or white-collar – everyone will face the hit of a fuel duty rise.”

A new survey of Red Wall voters found that 65 percent of those who voted for Mr. Johnson in 2019 would turn their backs on the party if fuel duty is raised.

Howard Cox of Fair Fuel UK, who carried out the survey, said: “Boris and Rishi will be under no illusion that the Red Wall will take back their conditional support for the Tories if there is a fuel duty hike.

“They didn’t vote for Dominic Cummings, they chose the Prime Minister promises to leave the EU and keep fuel duty frozen.

“Any increase in this levy will not benefit the environment, even the Treasury has stated, keeping fuel duty low benefits GDP, jobs, wages, and consumer spending. Cutting it would be even better.”

An industry source said that there was still a “great amount of desire” inside the Treasury to raise fuel duty, but after an angry backlash from MPs, there is an expectation the Chancellor will stick with the freeze.

Read more at The Telegraph