At the Budget, The Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, extended the 5p cut in fuel duty for the fourteenth consecutive year following an intense campaign led by Jonathan Gullis to maintain the cut.
This is the second consecutive year in a row that the Chancellor has name-dropped Jonathan Gullis at the Despatch Box whilst reading out his statement.
Jonathan Gullis worked with FairFuelUK to get a letter sent to the Chancellor which was signed by eight former Cabinet Ministers and nearly 40 MPs and peers. This added weight to a petition that had over 126,000 signatures which Gullis presented to No 10 last week imploring the Chancellor to keep this tax cut.
He argued that “the threat of a 5p hike in fuel duty is “hanging over motorists” this year. They went on to argue that “it would be catastrophic for British motorists is fuel duty rises in line with inflation.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer said:
“Another cost that families and businesses worry about is fuel. The Shadow Chancellor complained about the freeze on fuel duty and Labour has opposed it at every opportunity.”
“The Labour Mayor of London wants to punish motorists even more with his ULEZ plans. But lots of families and sole traders depend on their car. If I did nothing, fuel duty would increase by 13% this month.”
“So instead I've listened to my Honourable Friends for Stoke-on-Trent North [Jonathan Gullis], Dudley North [Marco Longhi], Witham [Dame Priti Patel] and others, as well as the Sun Newspaper's 'Keep it Down' campaign. I have, as a result, decided to maintain the 5p cut and freeze fuel duty for another twelve months. This will save the average car driver £50 next year and bring total savings since the 5p cut was introduced to around £250.”
Commenting, Jonathan Gullis said: “I want to thank the Chancellor for backing Britain’s army of 37 million motorists who rely on their vehicle. In Stoke-on-Trent our families rely on their cars to get around and our small business need their vehicle to keep their business moving.”
“The extension of this tax cut demonstrates that the Conservatives are the champions of the Great British motorist in stark contrast to Labour and Sir Keir’s anti-driver ULEZ scheme laughs in the face of our hardworking drivers.”