Motorists who fill up at supermarkets such as Tesco, Morrisons, Asda and Sainsbury's have been issued a warning.
Petrol and diesel drivers face a hike under a potential new rule change coming under the Labour Party government.
On October 30, Chancellor Rachel Reeves could make fuel duty changes in the Budget.
Experts have slammed reports that the Chancellor could be planning to hike the level of fuel duty by 7p.
🚨SMF welcomes possible fuel duty rise #Budget2024
— Social Market Foundation (@SMFthinktank) October 18, 2024
⛽️As we’ve highlighted, government has foregone £130bn to date, with loss rising to £200bn by 2028 - while only saving the typical household £13 a month on motoring costs.
👇Hear more from transport policy lead @gideonsalutin pic.twitter.com/J6gQGcrLrk
According to a Whitehall source, officials have told Chancellor Ms Reeves that it is "now or never" on fuel duty, the Mail reported.
Other publications such as The Daily Express and Guardian have also reported the fuel duty hike.
The Chancellor was warned that "if she doesn’t act to end the freeze now she will find it much harder to do so later in the parliament".
Paul Barker, editor of Auto Express, said a "reported 7p rise in fuel duty" would be a "major blow" to drivers who continue to struggle with the cost of living crisis.
Barker added: "With the average car needing refuelling every eight days, this hike would increase the cost of each fill-up by nearly £4 - around £175 per year in extra fuel expenses - making it harder for drivers to keep up with their regular expenses, particularly those who rely on their cars for work or daily commuting.
Recommended reading:
Olympian Sir Chris Hoy announces terminal cancer diagnosis
Strictly Come Dancing 2024 week 5 exit leak shocks fans
Royal Mint rare 20p 'mule' coin sells for £75 - how to spot
"What’s especially frustrating is that this increase comes just as global fuel prices have begun to ease, raising suspicions that the Government is trying to capitalize on a brief period of lower costs to impose a hefty tax increase.
"Drivers who have already endured high fuel prices over the past few years would be unfairly burdened at a time when household budgets remain stretched."
An HM Treasury spokesperson said: "Following the spending audit, the Chancellor has been clear that difficult decisions lie ahead on spending, welfare and tax to fix the foundations of our economy and address the £22billion hole in the public finances left by the last Government.
"Decisions on how to do that will be taken at the Budget in the round."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel