MORE than 50 Tory MPs today break cover to urge Rishi Sunak to cut fuel duty in next week’s mini Budget and help millions of struggling families.
Political big beasts including ex Cabinet ministers David Davis and Robert Jenrick are backing The Sun’s campaign to slash the tax and cut prices at the pump.
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Senior Tory Robert Halfon, who organised the letter, said Britain is hurtling towards a “de facto lockdown” because families cannot afford to fill up the tank.
Prices at the pump have rocketed to an eye-watering £2 per litre in some parts of the country.
The letter to the Chancellor, signed by 53 Tory MPs, warns that just getting in the car is fast becoming “unaffordable for millions”.
It adds: “The 12-year fuel duty freeze, which has saved motorists £15 every time they fill up, is extremely welcome.
“But the current circumstances mean the government must go further by either cutting fuel duty or reducing VAT on fuel.”
Mr Halfon, the chairman of the education select committee, added: “We’re heading to a de facto lockdown where parents can’t afford to take their kids to school, where workers can’t afford to commute by car and have to stay at home.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, he urged Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to “make appeals to the Treasury to cut fuel duty in the spending round next week”.
Mr Sunak is under massive pressure to do more to ease the cost of living crunch for millions of families.
He is revealing his Spring Statement next week, which will spell out what more extra help families will get.
Yesterday, George Eustice – the Cabinet minister for food and farming – warned Brits will see “significant” price rises on supermarket shelves in the coming months.The war in Ukraine is only worsening the cost of living crisis, he said.
He told Times Radio: “We are seeing quite a lot of turbulence, as you’d expect on agricultural commodity prices.
“They are closely correlated to the gas price and always have been, so what we’re seeing at the moment is the wheat price running at around double its three or five year average.
“So a significant increase.”
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