Sunak refuses to rule out fuel duty hike, insisting it is a matter for Hunt

Rishi Sunak has refused to rule out the prospect of motorists facing a 12p-a-litre hike in fuel duty in March.

A 23% increase in the duty is pencilled in for March, but chancellors have repeatedly frozen the levy in the past.

“Having previously had his job, I always preferred it when the Prime Minister made absolutely no comments about future tax policy, so I will absolutely adhere to that,” he told the Liaison Committee.

Treasury Select Committee chairwoman Harriett Baldwin told him the policy would mean extra taxes of “£6 billion a year during a cost-of-living crisis”, and said there is a need for a “better approach to fuel duty”.

At the time of Mr Hunt’s autumn statement in November, the Office for Budget Responsibility said a “planned 23% increase” in fuel duty in March will add around 12p per litre to pump prices.

The figure is based on a combination of the scheduled end of the 5p cut in duty, and the long-standing policy of duty rising in line with the RPI rate of inflation.

But no chancellor has increased fuel duty in cash terms for more than a decade and the Treasury insisted a final decision on the rate would not be taken until the next budget, scheduled for March 15.