Osborne delays fuel duty rise

26 Jun 12
The 3p fuel duty rise planned for the start of August has been postponed until January, Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed.
By Vivienne Russell | 26 June 2012

The 3p fuel duty rise planned for the start of August has been postponed until January, Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed.

He claimed the decision would leave an average family with a car £159 better off, and hauliers would retain £4,900. The Treasury said the £550m cost of delaying the increase would be met from reduced departmental expenditure and thus be ‘fiscally neutral’. Further details will be included in the Autumn Statement.

‘This government has done more to support motorists than any other. We cut fuel duty last year, and avoided two year’s worth of rises planned by the previous government,’ Osborne said.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander added that the decision to postpone the increase ‘will provide a welcome boost at a time when people are under real financial pressure’.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls called the decision the ‘fastest U-turn in history’. While welcoming the decision, he added: ‘With U-turns on petrol, pasties, caravans, charities and churches, George Osborne's Budget is now in tatters – a truly omnishambles of a Budget from a part-time chancellor whose reputation is now badly damaged.’

Fuel duty was scheduled to rise by 3.02 pence per litre on August 1. This will now be delayed until January 1, 2013.

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