Fuel duty
The never-ending fuel duty story
One other point worth noting from today’s IFS post-Budget briefing was the way the government has dealt with fuel duty over the past few years. Here’s a table showing how… Continue reading
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George Osborne to Tory MPs: I hear you on fuel duty
George Osborne spent an hour in front of the 1922 this evening. 40 Tory MPs took the opportunity to promote their own Budget ideas to him. From what I understand,… Continue reading
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Chancellor caught in the headlights on fuel prices
George Osborne is getting used to the twice-yearly battle that precedes an autumn statement or a budget when motorists, newspapers and some of his own MPs start haranguing him on… Continue reading
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How George Osborne took on Ed Miliband on the cost of living
In addition to his effective attack on Labour’s welfare policy, George Osborne used the Autumn Statement to take on Ed Miliband on another key electoral battleground. Over the past few… Continue reading
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Order returns to the Tory party on fuel duty vote
Tonight was a good one for the Tory whips. What looked last week like it could have been a tricky vote on a Labour motion to delay the fuel duty… Continue reading
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Briefing: Another fuel duty freeze?
It looks like George Osborne will put the planned fuel duty rise on hold again, in order to avoid another Tory rebellion and potential government defeat in the Commons. This… Continue reading
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Promoting tax transparency at the petrol pumps
Too many taxes are buried in prices. From Value Added Tax to the cost of extravagant subsidies for renewable energy, all people see is the shop charging them a higher… Continue reading
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Miliband’s notes still lack gusto
Ed Miliband was spoilt for choice at today’s PMQs. Scarcely a week goes by without the government reneging on some budget promise, so Labour’s leader had a whole fistful of… Continue reading
3 CommentsChloe Smith was bad, and so was Jeremy Paxman
Poor Chloe Smith. First she must endure knowing that many of her colleagues in the Conservative party will have enjoyed seeing her flayed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel Four News… Continue reading
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Cameron’s fuel duty gamble
Talk to anyone in Downing Street and they can give you the four main reasons that voters cite for switching from the Tories to Labour: the Tory leadership is out… Continue reading
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Osborne’s handbrake turn on fuel duty
George Osborne’s U-turn today on fuel duty seems both canny and confusing. It comes just 48 hours after a denial from Transport Secretary Justine Greening that the Government would scrap… Continue reading
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Fuel for a duel
Dear commuter, how’s your journey panning out after you were woken by the sound of Ed Balls politicking about fuel duty? The shadow chancellor was a ubiquitous presence on the… Continue reading
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Which tax cuts do the public want?
YouGov’s new poll for the Sunday Times includes one set of numbers that will be of particular interest to George Osborne at the moment. It asks the public: ‘If the… Continue reading
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Osborne faces the fire over fuel duty
Will fuel ever stop being a cause of political discontent? It was the fuel protests of 2000 that first tarnished Blair’s electoral allure, according to some of the advisors who… Continue reading
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How to kick-start the economy
This morning’s news is a stark reminder of the desperate need to get the UK’s economy growing faster than the 0.9 per cent it managed in 2011. So far, George… Continue reading
28 CommentsFuelling the recovery
Today, the government has listened. In his Autumn Statement, George Osborne scrapped the fuel tax bombshell that was scheduled for January 2012. As regular Coffee House readers will know,… Continue reading
12 CommentsBenefits won’t rise in line with September’s inflation figures
Jill Sherman, the Whitehall editor of The Times, reports tomorrow that the government will not raise benefits in line with September’s inflation figures as normally happens. However, there’ll be no… Continue reading
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