Costs for Motorists

Mel Stride Excerpts

Thursday 21st May 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sir Mel Stride (Central Devon) (Con)]

(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the Government’s plan for costs for motorists.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Lucy Rigby)]

Mr Speaker, your comments have been fully noted, and I will ensure that they are fed back to the entire ministerial team.

The Government are taking steps to support households and businesses with fuel costs in response to the conflict in the middle east. A rapid de-escalation in the middle east remains the best way to bring down fuel prices. The most impactful step, of course, would be to reopen the strait of Hormuz. That is exactly why the UK Government are playing a leading role in the international effort to get shipping flowing freely. Indeed, I contrast that with the position of the Leader of the Opposition, who would have rushed us to war. [Interruption.]

Alongside this key step—[Interruption.] Mr Speaker, the boys’ club—

[Lucy Rigby]

Alongside this key step, the Government’s priority will continue to be helping families with the cost of living, including through protecting the public finances. The Government are taking action to bear down on prices at the pump, and in November we extended the 5p per litre cut in fuel duty for a further five months. Right now, petrol and diesel are 11p per litre cheaper than they would have been under the plans we inherited from the previous Government.

Some fuels have been more impacted than others by the conflict, and we recognise that. The Government also recognise the pressures being faced by drivers and other fuel users. That is why we are introducing a package worth over £400 million that combines broad support for motorists with targeted support for the sectors most exposed to and affected by higher fuel prices.

Yesterday the Prime Minister made it clear that we will not increase fuel duty this year. The temporary 5p cut will be extended until the end of the year. Taken together, the Government’s decisions will save the average motorist over £120 this year, compared with the plans we inherited from the previous Government.

We also recognise that farmers face substantially increased costs for fertiliser and fuel. That is why we are going further and cutting the duty rate on red diesel by over a third per litre, to the lowest rate in over 20 years. That will help other users of red diesel too.

The road haulage sector is vital for transporting goods across the country. Recognising the sector’s key role and the increased costs that it is facing, we are introducing a 12-month holiday from vehicle excise duty for the majority of heavy goods vehicles. This will save a typical HGV over £600—up to £912 for some vehicles—on top of the savings that I have just described for fuel duty.

To conclude, this change is one part of our support for households and businesses. It combines universal support for motorists with targeted support for those most affected by higher fuel prices. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor will update the House later today on further support measures for households and businesses.

[Sir Mel Stride]

May I begin by agreeing with you, Mr Speaker, and saying how disrespectful it is that this U-turn on fuel duty has already been released to the media earlier this week? The news was plastered across national newspapers on Monday, and yesterday the Chancellor conducted a visit to a petrol station with journalists, but it has taken until today for this House to be updated. This is a pattern, Mr Speaker—including, of course, the relentless briefings before the Budget last year about tax measures and fiscal forecasts. You would think that a Government with so little support among their own Back Benchers would have more respect for this place.

This change to fuel duty is yet another humiliating U-turn from a Chancellor and Prime Minister whose authority is shot. The Chancellor fought us tooth and nail on this issue. The Conservative party has been campaigning for a fuel duty freeze for months. The Chancellor repeatedly rejected those calls, creating unnecessary uncertainty for motorists and businesses. Why did it take her so long to realise that putting up fuel duty during an energy crisis is a bad idea? Does she really expect us to believe that this is all only happening, as she has suggested, because of better growth?

Let us be clear: the Chancellor has been pointing to the slight upward revision in the International Monetary Fund’s growth forecast earlier this week. That forecast was for growth of 1%, but until April the IMF was forecasting growth this year of 1.3%, so where is the supposed growth dividend? Perhaps the Minister can address that momentarily. Is the Chancellor seriously suggesting that the outlook is better now compared with how it looked at the last fiscal event? On wider measures, will the Minister confirm what has also been briefed to the press and not told to the House: that HM Revenue and Customs’ mileage rates are to be changed?

Let us be clear that this is a Government lurching from one U-turn to the next. Their mismanagement has left our economy weak. The reality is that they are in no position to support people through these cost of living pressures because they have mismanaged the economy. They have no credibility left, and clearly they have no respect for the House.

[Lucy Rigby]

Put simply, as I said, the shadow Chancellor’s party would have had motorists hurtling full speed towards higher fuel costs. It is only because of the action that this Government have taken that we have applied the brake to the hikes that his party would have introduced. The Conservatives would have introduced higher costs; we are keeping the freeze on fuel duty and protecting millions of motorists right across the country. Exactly as I said, we are taking further measures on red diesel and for HGV drivers.

That is on top of additional action that we are taking on the cost of living. The shadow Chancellor and I saw each other in the studios earlier this morning when I was out there talking about the free, unlimited bus travel for children that the Chancellor will update us on—