Time to cut sky-high fuel taxes

I was recently  forced to give up my car as lack of use was not justifying the huge costs associated with keeping it on the road.

Consequently I have not had much call to worry about the cost of fuel.

That was until today when I was sent to join hundreds of campaigners outside the Houses of Parliament in London demanding a cut in fuel duty.

The UK Government is the worst offender in Europe for clobbering motorists with massive duties on petrol and diesel.

Fuel tax in Britain is also the second highest in the world beaten only by Turkey.

Motorists pay extortionate amounts of tax, and on top of that they pay VAT on fuel which because it is calculated after duty is added rises with it.

Today’s protest was organised by campaign group FairFuelUK backed by the Daily Express.

They are demanding a cut in fuel duty in the next budget and for a planned increase of 3p in August to be scrapped.

But this is not just so motorists can enjoy their wheels without having to pay vast sums in duty, sky-high taxes have a significant knock-on effect on society as a whole.

I joined  BBC Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson at 10 Downing Street as he handed a report to the Prime Minister which pointed out cutting fuel duty would not only stimulate the economy but create thousands of jobs.

He explained the price of fuel tax is reflected in shop prices, services or anything which involves transportation - so everything really.

Cuts would benefit the economy as people would have more expendable cash to spend on other things.

“Fuel duty at the moment is crippling motorists,” he said.

“We have reached a situation where it is out of control.

“If the treasury were to cut taxes that would put money back into people’s pockets and consequently back into the economy as they start spending.

“Fuel prices affect everything, from what you spend on motoring to prices in the shops.

“There is an element of fuel price in everything you but from fruit and vegetables to DVDs.

“It is not just the motorists who are being hit by soaring duties, but ever single person living in the UK.”

When I was a motorist I was constantly frustrated at the Government constantly penalising me for having a car.

And eventually it became so expensive I was forced to give up my Ford Ka and hit the Docklands Light Railway.

Did that solve the problem? Not if you weigh up the rising cost of rail fares with the endless delays and unreliability of the London transport network.

But as I use the trains to get to work I really didn’t have much choice, one of them had to go.

Motorists are hit by road tax, congestion charge (another tax), road tolls, VAT on servicing and repairs, fines for entering a low-emission zone (another tax) and the astronomical fuel duty which was the focus today.

But non-drivers are also paying the price for the treasury’s sizable hands delving into the pockets of motorists.

Everything we buy which involves transportation will carry part of the cost of fuel duty, and that is why so many people were out in force today demanding for it to be cut.

It will be interesting to see whether Chancellor George Osborne will take today's message on board.


My full interview with Quentin Willson:



We have the second highest rate of fuel duty in the world and the highest in the Eurozone.

If you take a fuel purchase of £60, £24 of that goes to the oil companies, £36 goes to the treasury.

To take home £60 in earnings, the average person has to earn £104 before income tax and insurance.

You cannot have a prosperous economy when consumers have that sort of burden around there necks and this is why it is so vital we put pressure on the chancellor to cut duty.

The increase in tax on fuel has reached a stage where it is out of control.

Tradesman who rely on their vans for their livelihood are paying a third of their weekly wage in fuel, people are spending more to fill their vehicles than they are on rent every month, and this is just not right.

Fuel duty has become the golden goose for the treasury, they feel they can keep raising it during every budget and people will keep paying it.

It is the motorists who end up paying out each and every time, and this is unfair.

Drivers usually paying and not fighting back is not a justification for continually hitting them with crippling tax increases This time, however, it is not just about motorists.

It is about 60 million people out there who are carrying the cost of these astronomical levels of duty every single day of their lives.

Everything you buy in Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, or any supermarket, an element of the price is reflected in transport.

Everything comes back to fuel, this issue affects every single person, business and factory in the UK.

We [FairFuelUK] want to convince the Government to think about fuel duty in a completely different way.

The report delivered to Downing Street shows cutting fuel duty will stimulate growth of the economy and get businesses and consumers out there spending more.

If you give the fuel duty back to the consumer there will be a huge amount of money flowing back into the economy rather than going to the treasury.

This will filter through to companies, producers and transporters who will all need extra people, the result will be more jobs, another benefit highlighted in the report.

In France they pay 36 pence in fuel duty per litre, we are paying 57 pence, it is time the Government looked at the numbers.

I urge people to write to their MP, or write to the Prime Minister.

This isn't about cutting taxes, it is about clever management of the economy, we have got to stop talking about helping the motorists and talk about helping society.

This is a very serious social problem.