A fuel price campaigner has expressed delight, following chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget speech.
Howard Cox – founder of FairFuelUK, which has been campaigning for 15 years to get the government to freeze fuel duty – said it was a “great start” for the new chancellor.
“I am delighted that Rachel Reeves has listened to FairFuelUK supporters and her party MPs’ constituents,” Mr Cox said.
He added: “She finally recognises that keeping fuel duty frozen is at the core of a laudable journey to economic growth.”
In her Budget announcement, the chancellor froze fuel duty for one year and extending the temporary 5p cut until 22nd March 2026.
The government said the move would save the average car driver £59, van drivers £126 and Heavy Goods Vehicle drivers £1,079 over the next year.
To encourage the take-up of zero emission cars, Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) First Year Rates (FYRs) will change from 2025-26.
Rates for zero emission cars will remain at £10 until 2029-30 while rates for hybrid as well as petrol and diesel cars will rise from 1st April 2025.
Despite his praise over the fuel duty cap, Mr Cox used the opportunity to take a swipe at what he described as a “false and emotional, scientifically baseless belief that the UK is the only country to save the planet and the motorist is to blame for all the environmental ills”.
He said he believed the government should incentivise the UK’s 37m drivers rather than seeing them as “an easy cash cow”.
Meanwhile, Mr Cox is also campaigning against the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London and the forthcoming ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.
He stood as a Reform UK candidate in the London mayoral election in May 2024 and its parliamentary candidate for Dover & Deal at the July 2024 general election.
