Number 10 renews threat to petrol retailers who don’t pass on fuel duty cut
Downing Street has renewed threats to name and shame petrol retailers not handing on a 5p cut in fuel duty to customers as UK prices reach almost £2 a litre.
Boris Johnson’s spokesman today said the government wants this year’s fuel duty cut to be “passed on at all sites and petrol stations”, but that they were “not confident that is happening across the board”.
The average price of petrol in the UK is now 178.50p/litre and the average price of diesel is 185.20p/litre.
The RAC yesterday warned that “oil will average $135 a barrel for the rest of this year” and that “drivers need to brace themselves for average fuel prices rocketing to £2 a litre which would mean a fill-up would rise to an unbelievable £110”.
Oil is currently trading at around $120 per barrel on both major benchmarks.
Johnson’s spokesman said the government is prepared to name and shame retailers who do not pass on the 5p fuel duty cut, announced by Rishi Sunak in March, to customers.
“We are looking at all possible options and transparency may have an important role to play – it’s important for customers to see what retailers are sharing,” he said.
He said the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) will investigate any instances of profiteering or price fixing.
One Whitehall source was less bullish about the prospect of catching retailers out, saying that crude oil prices are rising so high that any cut in fuel duty domestically is being wiped out anyway.
Fuel duty makes up around 35 per cent of the total cost customers pay at the petrol pump, with a further 17 per cent collected by the government in the form of VAT.
Around 33 per cent of the price customers pay is the actual cost of petrol.