This week, more than 250 Labour MPs voted to hike Fuel Duty, punishing drivers and pushing up the cost of living. Under Labour’s plans, every one of those drivers faces a triple hit at the pump: a 1p per litre rise in September 2026, a further 2p in December 2026 and another 2p in March 2027 – a total of 5p per litre.
This comes at the worst possible moment. Since start of March, petrol prices have already surged by 8p to 140p per litre and diesel by 16p to 158p per litre – the fastest rate of increase since 2022 – driven by the conflict in the Middle East and rising global oil prices. Labour’s planned duty hike will deliver a painful double whammy for drivers already struggling.
A family with two cars will pay an extra £156 in fuel duty between 2026 and 2029 as a result of Labour’s hike. In cumulative terms, that rises to £448 per two-car household. And this is before the further RPI-linked increases Labour have pencilled in from 2027–28.
This is not an unavoidable choice. For 14 consecutive years, the Conservatives found the resources to freeze Fuel Duty – taking £120 billion off the cost of driving. Labour chose ever higher spending instead, and it is drivers and working people who will pay the price.
Rachel Reeves herself once said that increasing Fuel Duty would be the wrong choice for working people. She was right then, and she is wrong now. Labour must Axe the Fuel Duty hike.
