Andy Burnham has said he is weighing up "every possible measure" to reduce the burden of driving costs as he faced scrutiny over whether he will halt a planned fuel duty increase next year. The Prime Minister told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday: "I'm considering everything that might help people in very difficult times and I will be honest and say every possible measure is being looked at. The question I've got is, 'how many can I afford?'"
Public finances consideration
Mr Burnham added: "'What can we do given the state of the public finances?' And people wouldn't thank me for making unfunded payments that then cause pressure on mortgages – and we've seen that in the past and we're not going back there."
He subsequently said: "We will work hard to take that pressure off people's shoulders. But I would be the first to say it's hard – and the long-term answer is to put water under stronger public control – energy, housing reform, those are the long-term answers."
Record diesel prices
Chancellor John Healey has expressed his concern as diesel prices across the UK reached a record peak. The average cost of a litre of diesel hit 199.18p on Monday, according to data gathered by the RAC.
This marks a rise of 56.8p compared to the beginning of the US-Iran conflict on February 28 this year, when a litre cost an average of 142.38p. It also surpasses the previous peak of 199.09p, which was reached in June 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
Chancellor's response
Mr Healey told ITV News: "It's something I'm concerned about and people have seen the diesel and petrol prices rising over recent months. They've seen us put in place a Fuel Finder so people can find out the cheapest price on the forecourts around them. They've seen us put in place a freeze on any rise in diesel (duty) until the end of the year."
When asked whether he would consider extending the current 5p reduction in fuel duty beyond the end of this year, the Chancellor said he would reveal that decision in the Budget on October 28. He said: "I'm conscious of the pressure this is putting on people, on businesses as well as people at the pumps, and this is a government that will do what we can to give people a bit of breathing space. But those are decisions that I will make in the round at the Budget when I announce it in a month today."
