UK: Fuel Duty Increase Implemented
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Friday, 04 September 2009 |
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A 2p rise in fuel duty came into effect at midnight on September 1 in the UK, the third increase in nine months.
Stephen Glaister, director of road users’ pressure group RAC
Foundation, told local media in London that when VAT is included,
the increase will actually total 2.3p. The average price of unleaded
petrol across the UK was £1.05 per litre prior to the duty rise,
according to the AA, with a litre of diesel costing £1.05
The government says the extra duty was needed to help fund public
investment. However, AA president Edmund King said the timing of the
rise was ‘pretty dire’, at a time when the UK economy was trying to
exit recession. Mr King said its members were already having to
cut back on car journeys due to the high price of fuel, and that this
would only increase following the latest rise, meaning the Government’s
revenues would not actually rise. The price rise will increase fuel
costs by about £120 a year for the average two-car family. The
Petrol Retailers Association also pointed out that the price of fuel
would increase again when VAT increases from 15 per cent to 17.5 per
cent at the end of the year.
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