National Fuel Crisis

The RAC declared a “national fuel crisis” after the price of petrol and diesel hit £2/litre in some UK cities, with the prices possibly being pushed even higher due to the rising oil prices and the pound weakening against the US dollar.

The shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, accused the government of spending too much time “tearing themselves apart” instead of tackling the “brutal price hikes facing working people”.  And as Haigh said: “Motorists are being taken for a ride, and this hapless government is too distracted to do anything about it. The Conservative government needs to tackle the brutal petrol hikes, and support Labour’s call to put money back in the pockets of working people with an emergency budget.”

The government was urged by Williams to “take drastic action to help soften the impact for drivers from these never-before-seen pump prices”, also adding that “the wholesale price of diesel is fast approaching 160p a litre, which, when you add 7p retailer margin and 20 per cent VAT, would take the pump price over the £2 mark.”