Budget 2021: Fuel duty freeze to continue for another year
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has extended the freeze on fuel duty for another year, he announced at this afternoon’s Budget.
It is the 11th straight year in which taxes on fuels have stayed the same price – 57.95p a litre.
Motorists had feared that the decade-long freeze, which dates back to the days of the coalition government, could be finally ended.
A number of MPs, including former transport secretary Chris Grayling, welcomed the move.
“Most people depend on their cars to get to work and for their daily lives. Right now, with so many families under financial pressure, this would have been totally the wrong moment to push up their cost of living. We must remain on the side of the motorist”, Grayling said.
Motoring body the RAC’s head of policy Nicholas Lyes said: “Drivers will breathe a sigh of relieve that the Chancellor has decided not to ‘rock the fuel duty boat’.
“We feared this would only pile further misery on drivers at a time when pump prices are on the rise and many household incomes are being squeezed as a result of the pandemic.”
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