A fuel duty hike shows the Tories are struggling for Budget ideas

Could motorists be hit with the first fuel duty rise in ten years in this month’s Budget? According to the Sun, the PM’s chief advisor Dominic Cummings wants to use petrol and diesel as a revenue-raiser to fund big infrastructure projects outside the capital. But ending the fuel duty freeze after a decade might not be a good idea, particularly when many new Tory voters in the North are likely to be the worst affected.

Fuel duty is an easy way to raise revenue in theory, as the demand for fuel is always high. It is also a tax that is difficult for motorists to avoid (though this doesn’t stop some from trying). Yet no chancellor since 2010 has been brave enough to deal with the political backlash of hiking fuel duty, knowing how wildly unpopular it is. Even after the 2010 freeze, fuel duty remained higher in the UK than in any other major economy for years – a financial burden felt by motorists up and down the country.