John Healey has said he is “conscious” of soaring fuel prices ahead of next month’s budget.
The Chancellor has been tight-lipped around budget specifics, but has vowed to “take into account” the fuel crisis in an interview on the eve of the Labour conference.
He also hopes to give people “breathing space” as Andy Burnham announced a Help to Buy-style scheme to help young first time buyers get on the property ladder.
Mr Healey has inherited plans to increase fuel duty by 3p in January and 2p in March, ending a 5p cut introduced by former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Drivers would effectively pay 6p more to fill their tank because of 20 per cent VAT if the plan is unchanged.
He refused to speculate on budget policy when asked by The Sunday Times.
But, he said: “Last time I went past our local filling station the other day diesel was £1.92, £1.95, unleaded was £1.72, £1.75. So I’m conscious of these pressures.
“I will take them into account when I make my budget decisions.
“And this is part of a recognition that where government can, we’ll do what we can to offer people a bit of breathing space.”
The Prime Minister has set out a theme of restoring public hope before his first conference as Labour leader.
But Mr Burnham admitted he and Mr Healey face a “challenging” backdrop ahead of the budget, and and said it was “crucial” to stabilise the public finances to put his agenda on a good footing.
When asked if fuel prices were too high, he acknowledged it was putting “pressure on people’s ability to manage week to week and sometimes putting pressure on their ability to manage the daily essentials”.
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If the change is delayed, the average petrol car driver would save £3.30 per refill.
This would benefit more than 30 million drivers.
Mr Healey could also delay plans to unfreeze fuel duty, meaning it no longer rise with inflation from next year.
Fuel prices have risen because of global conflicts, including the Iran war and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Abroad, France has handed out €100 vouchers to millions of drivers, Spain has extended petrol tax cuts and Donald Trump has considered a diesel export ban.
Mr Trump rejected a proposed peace deal from Iran last night which would have opened the Strait of Hormuz, through which a 20 per cent of the world’s oil flowed through before war broke out.
Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil network, which allows it to export oil without using the strait, was damaged by Iran-backed Houthis earlier this month.
The kingdom has since repaired the pipeline, but full operations are not “likely to be back up and running for weeks”, according to Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club.
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