𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour MPs voted down calls to scrap an increase in petrol duty, despite warnings that the Iran war is already pushing up fuel prices. Conservatives led calls in Parliament to reverse Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to increase fuel duty by 5p. They warned the move “will affect drivers, farmers, businesses and other hard-working people already struggling with higher taxes and higher cost of living”.

Oil and gas prices have been driven up as Iran has throttled key shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz, with commercial vessels coming under attack in the region. Analysis from the RAC shows the average UK price of a litre of unleaded petrol has risen 20p since the start of the conflict. But the Government used its Commons majority to defeat a Tory motion blocking the fuel duty increase, with 252 Labour MPs, along with four from the Green Party, voting for the rise to go ahead.

Ms Reeves’ is to increase tax on petrol gradually, starting in September, with more rises in December 2026 and March 2027. Labour argues that it is simply ending a temporary tax cut introduced by 2022 to help motorists cope with rising costs, caused at the time by the Ukraine war.

Shadow transport secretary Ricard Holden branded the increase “another egregious tax on transport pushed out by this Labour Government at a time when people across the country are worried about the cost of getting around”.

He said: “The British people deserve better than underhand taxes swindling them out of the pounds in their pockets, and to pay for that? To pay for more welfare, a tax on every car, every van, every motorbike and every bus.”

Treasury minister Torsten Bell insisted the Government recognises that “fuel costs matter enormously to people right across the country” and said Labour has “already taken action to ensure that fuel remains affordable”.

He said: “This Government will take the necessary decisions to help protect both household finances and public finances.”

Liberal Democrat rural spokesman Tim Farron said the United States needed to resolve the conflict in Iran to allow oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Farron said: “The United States needs to fix the problem that it created. It cannot be up to others to save it from its failures to think things through.”