George Osborne, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer for the Conservative-LibDem Coalition government, presented his
annual Budget Statement to the House of Commons on Wednesday 20th March 2013.
As usual we have a prompt report on the measures announced which will be of interest
to the classic motoring enthusiast all within less than 30 minutes of the Chancellor
sitting down in the House of Commons.
Posted:
130320 | What
has been the effect of freezing fuel duty?
In his Budget Statement to the
House of Commons on Wednesday 20th March 2013, George Osborne mentioned the overall
effect of his series of measures in his Budget statements on motoring costs from
his removal of the fuel duty escalator and the series of fuel duty increases.
The fuel duty escalator increases were introduced by the previous Labour government.
Chancellor's comments on fuel duty
"We
inherited a fuel duty escalator that would have seen above inflation increases
in every year of this Parliament. We
abolished the escalator and we’ve now frozen fuel duty for two
years. This has not been easy. The government has forgone £6 billion
in tax revenues to date.
But oil prices have risen again. Families budgets
are squeezed. And I hear those who want me to do more to help them get by. My
Honorable Friend for Harlow has again spoken up for his hard working constituents.
He’s been joined by many other Honorable Friends, like the Member for Argyll
and Bute. We’ve all listened to the people we represent.
Today, I
am cancelling this September’s fuel duty increase altogether. Petrol
will now be 13 pence per litre cheaper than if we had not acted over these last
two years to freeze fuel duty. For a Vauxhall Astra or a Ford Focus that’s
£7 less every time you fill up."
For
MGV8 enthusiasts that means a saving of around £7.10 per tank. With an annual
mileage of 5,000 it would provide a saving of £109 and covering 10,000 miles
a saving of £218 a year. |