Fuel duty freezes since 2010 have cost the Treasury over £46 billion in lost tax revenue. The cost of this giveaway to motorists is now running at over £8 billion/year. It's bad for the environment too, as it encourages car use over public transport use.
parliament.uk/written-questi…
parliament.uk/written-questi…
That amount is nearly 50% more than the total cuts to welfare payments, housing subsidies and social services since 2010. In other words, none of those cuts would have been needed if fuel duty had continued to rise like it used to before the Tories came to power!
Bear in mind too that car ownership is just 35% amongst the poorest 10% of UK households, so 2/3 don't benefit from the fuel freeze whereas all will have been affected by the cuts.
But it's much worse than that. Not only do poorer people own fewer cars, they also drive much less far. Compare the average mileage of the 20% of people with the highest & lowest incomes. In other words, the fuel tax freeze benefits the rich most, by far!
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl…
