No tracking. No cookies
Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Byline Times is an independent, reader-funded investigative newspaper, outside of the system of the established press, reporting on ‘what the papers don’t say’ – without fear or favour.
To support its work, subscribe to the monthly Byline Times print edition, packed with exclusive investigations, news, and analysis.
Labour’s first Budget in 15 years has sparked a critical reaction from environmental groups and transport campaigners after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a freeze in fuel duty, while increasing the cap on bus fares in England by 50%, in a move accused of undermining climate commitments.
The Chancellor defended the decision to maintain the 5p-per-litre ‘temporary’ fuel duty cut, which comes alongside another 2p freeze in the tax until 2026, arguing that it would be “the wrong choice for working people” to increase costs on motorists.
The Treasury says the move will save average car drivers £59 and van drivers £126 annually. But the flip-side is it will cost the Treasury £3bn a year, and is effectively a massive subsidy for drivers at a time when rail and bus fares are increasing. Rail fares are set to rise by nearly five per cent while the cap on bus fares has risen from £2 to £3 per journey in England.
Don’t miss a story
Hirra Khan Adeogun, Co-Director of climate charity Possible, called it “extraordinary” to see Labour preserve a Conservative policy on freezing fuel duty, a costly move that has lasted for 14 years: “Fuel duty will now be frozen for fifteen years, while the cost of public transport has gone up and up each and every year.
“This is completely the wrong way around, and we need to move to a system which makes the greenest ways of getting around the cheapest and most convenient.”
She added: “This means investment in public transport, shared transport like car clubs and hire bikes, and walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure. Sadly, today’s budget flies in the face of this ambition, hiking bus fares by 50% at a stroke while backing down from adding mere pennies onto the cost of petrol at the pump”.
Bus fares in England won’t actually increase by 50%, as areas in the capped scheme are only allowed to increase fares in line with inflation – around 4% – up to the new cap. That could see a single fare previously costing £2.85 going up to around £3, but no fare would be able to rise from £2 to £3.
Government Approves Expansion of London City Airport, as Climate Campaigners Say Only ‘Private Jet Users’ Will Benefit
Secretaries of State allow passenger numbers to soar by 38% at business airport, despite objections from locals and climate campaigners
However, fuel duty is one of the most unpopular taxes, with just four per cent of voters in a recent YouGov poll saying they’d support a hike. There is far more support for tobacco, alcohol and corporation tax hikes, as well as higher taxes for wealthy earners.
The Women’s Budget Group has analysed the gender implications of the policy, noting that while 66% of men are main drivers in their households, women make up 56% of bus users. They argue that women will therefore be hardest hit by the bus fare hike, while missing out on the fuel duty gains.
But the policy received praise from motorists’ groups, with FairFuelUK founder – and Reform UK London mayoral candidate – Howard Cox saying “thank you Rachel Reeves.”
Cox, who was a main proponent of the fuel duty freeze and is often quoted in right-leaning papers, used the move to lash out at supposed “brainwashing” about climate change.
“Let’s build the first-ever road-user transport strategy that benefits the economy without your party’s false and emotional, scientifically baseless belief that the UK is the only country to save the planet and the motorist is to blame for all the environmental ills.
“That costly brainwashing must stop now. Start incentivising the UK’s 37m drivers and stop seeing them as an easy cash cow.”
The Sun newspaper had backed Cox’s group’s campaign. After the Budget, the Sun is reportedly the first outlet to get an interview with the Chancellor. Murdoch’s News UK newspaper reluctantly backed Labour during the General Election, albeit after most voters had made up their minds.
Sarah McMonagle, director of external affairs at Cycling UK, welcomed an additional £100m being invested into cycling and walking infrastructure. But she too was critical of the fuel duty cut: “[It] means the cost of driving is not increasing in relative terms.
Research suggests that in the past, savings from the fuel duty freeze have not been passed down to consumers, with supermarkets and fuel firms keeping prices the same while pocketing increased profit margins.
“Revenue raised from an increase in fuel duty could make public transport more affordable, and cycling and walking much safer through more investment in active travel,” McMonagle added.
Meanwhile, the Centre think tank called the simultaneous freezing of fuel duty and increase in bus fares a clear signal that “the Government lacks ambition to tackle climate change.”
The group’s director Torrin Wilkins said: “This move rewards motorists and penalises those who use more environmentally friendly means of transport.”
Subscribers Get More from JOSIAH
Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
So for more from him…
