£40k cost to households of Reeves' fuel duty rise

A TYPICAL household will pay almost £40,000 in fuel duty over a lifetime if Labour's hike goes ahead, according to new analysis.

- BY KATIE HARRIS

The TaxPayers' Alliance said an average household currently shells out £36,285 in fuel duty over a 60-year period. But this would go up by £3,423 to £39,708 if the proposed 5p rise is phased in over six months from September.

The campaign group is calling on the government to scrap the increase, which would be the first in more than a decade and comes as the Iran conflict has sent prices soaring.

Petrol prices are now 10p higher than before the conflict escalated, and diesel costs have shot up by 20p a litre, according to RAC figures.

The average price of unleaded petrol was 142.3p a litre yesterday, up 7.1% since February 28. Average diesel prices have jumped by nearly 14% over the period to 162.1p.

Anne Strickland, a researcher at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "People are rightly alarmed at the looming fuel duty hike, given the sky-high prices they now pay at the pump.