Fuel giants and Government act like a cartel to keep petrol prices high COMMENT

Pumping customers dry? Fuel is kept artificially high says Howard Cox (Image: Getty) ‘Inflation for Dummies’ should be a must read for all Chancellors of the Exchequer. Price rises for what we buy in the shops are influenced by a multitude of factors. One of which – and probably the major acute financial component – is transport costs. And guess what in June, CPI fell by 0.8 percent and its no coincidence why? In the last 12 months pump prices have fallen by nearly 23 percent year-on-year. Petrol (and more notably diesel) fill up costs are the major drivers of inflationary pressure on all our daily lives. You’d think, the inhabitants at Number 11 Downing St would get it by now. Jeremy Hunt once told me that he supports lower pump prices. He wasn’t the Treasury boss then though. Strange how all masters of the nation’s purse seem to lose that “cutting taxes for growth” mentality once they sit next to the Prime Minister in Cabinet. Last month, the Competition and Markets Authority – after me perennially banging on to them about the opportunistic profiteering being rife for years in the fuel supply chain – finally decided to back my PumpWatch proposal. There has never been a consumer pricing watchdog for UK’s 37m drivers. Maybe because of the billions of extra VAT the Treasury fleeces from those unchecked high pump prices. And here’s the thing. The Government could secure millions of extra votes at the 2024 General Election, reduce inflation hugely by as much as two percent in one month, lessen the cost of living crisis, increase GDP, create more jobs and generate more tax revenue due to the consequential growth of simply cutting Fuel Duty by 20p per litre and implementing PumpWatch. Despite my successful campaigning efforts at FairFuelUK of freezing Fuel Duty since 2010, our UK Government still taxes drivers at one of the highest rates in the world. With their undemocratic edict of forcing us all to dump buying new diesel and petrol cars in 2030, the politicos are still not getting it, that drivers contribute the fifth largest income to the Treasury. That reliable income will be decimated by their clueless draconian ban of making every UK household pay £1000 per year till 2050 for the rich privileged few to drive pure electric. So to all political parties, recognise that the commercial heartbeat of the economy are drivers. They all vote and have been subject to anti-driver demonization both fiscally and socially for way too long. It really is time to wake up and smell the fossil fuel fumes of common sense. Cut the cost of motoring big time and start supporting all road users that pay massive needless taxes and charges. Legislate to make pump pricing transparent, honest and fair. Diesel is still 10p per litre too high. In doing these simple popular common sense asks, sit back and watch the economy flourish. It really is a no brainer! Howard Cox Founder of FairFuelUK and Reform UK London Mayoral Candidate.