Nigel Farage offered drivers discounted fuel today as he demanded Labour U-turns on plans to hike fuel duty.
The Reform leader surprised motorists at a forecourt in Newhaven, Derbyshire – offering them ’25p off with Farage’.
That put a litre of diesel at a subsidised price of £1.43 and a litre of unleaded petrol at £1.21, with Mr Farage and Robert Jenrick helping drivers fill up.
Oil prices have soared since the US and Israel began strikes against Tehran and exceeded 100 dollars per barrel on Monday.
Although prices fell back below 90 dollars as Donald Trump suggested the conflict was nearing a conclusion, there has already been a knock-on effect for drivers.
The average cost of a litre of unleaded petrol is up by 3.5p since last week, while diesel rose 6.9p.
This marked the biggest surge since 2022, when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine sparked an energy crisis.
However, Rachel Reeves is resisting calls to abandon a planned increase in fuel duty, which has been frozen since 2011.
The levy was cut by 5p in 2022 in response to Russia’s assault on Ukraine.
At her Budget last year, Ms Reeves said the 5p cut would be unwound between September this year and March 2027.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage offered drivers discounted fuel in Derbyshire as he outlined his party’s pledge to reverse the fuel duty hike
Mr Farage announced the policy at a forecourt in Newhaven where the price board was covered in Reform branding, such as ‘Reform Refuel’ and ’25p off with Farage’
Mr Jenrick, who recently defected from the Tories, said a Reform government would save £13billion a year by cutting spending on Net Zero initiatives
Mr Jenrick, who recently defected from the Tories, said a Reform government would save £13billion a year by cutting spending on Net Zero initiatives.
The party would scrap the scheme providing grants to homeowners to install heat pumps, cut investment in carbon capture technologies, and axe grants for new electric vehicles, Mr Jenrick said.
He added a Reform government’s first budget would ‘bring down the cost of fuel by taking at least 5p off the cost of fuel every time you fill up’.
Mr Farage also vowed to abolish the windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas, something the Labour Government has already signalled it will do.
As she answered questions in the House of Commons this afternoon, Ms Reeves defended her plans to hike fuel duty from September.
She told MPs: ‘The price today of petrol is 8 pence per litre lower than if I had a followed the plans that were left to me by the previous Conservative government.
‘And from April they will be 11 pence per litre lower. Of course, we keep these things, under review.
‘But if you look at petrol prices, oil prices today, they are 24 per cent lower than they were yesterday.
‘So things are very volatile at the moment, which is why… the most important thing we can do to address the cost of living challenges people face is to de-escalate the conflict in the Middle East.’
The Chancellor added that she would be meeting with petrol retailers later this week to ‘raise concerns and to get prices down at the pumps for all our constituents’.
‘The Government’s cheaper fuel finder scheme is now online, and it shows petrol prices at forecourts across the country,’ she said.
‘Yesterday, some petrol retailers charged almost 180p per litre, while others were charging less than 130p per litre. This Government will not tolerate price gouging.’
Responding to Reform’s petrol station stunt, Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘You can’t trust a word that Robert Jenrick or Nigel Farage say.
‘Every few weeks Reform UK rolls out another headline-grabbing promise that falls apart the moment you look at the numbers.
‘Their pledge on fuel duty will end up being another broken promise just like their promise to cut council tax, only to hike it in councils they control.
‘Only the Conservatives have the team and the plan to protect motorists by axing the Fuel Tax.’
Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended her plans to increase fuel duty by 5p from later this year – despite pump prices rocketing amid the Iran crisis