RAC predicts Chancellor will 'defrost' fuel duty in Autumn Budget

Ahead of the Autumn Budget, RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “We’ve reached the conclusion the Chancellor has no option but to put fuel duty back up to 58p a litre in October’s Budget.

“She knows the 5p discount is losing the Treasury £2bn a year. She also knows drivers were overcharged by a staggering £1.6bn last year according to the Competition and Markets Authority’s recent report.

“We’d normally be against any increase in duty, but we’ve long been saying drivers haven’t been benefitting from the current discount due to much higher-than-average retailer margins.

“As more and more EVs come on to the roads the Government will need to tax drivers differently. We think replacing fuel duty with a pay-per-mile system as soon as possible is the way forward as then the only tax levied on fuel would be VAT. This would give retailers nowhere to hide.”