Reform vows to scrap the Electric Car Grant to keep petrol prices low
In order to fund a continuation of the 5p fuel duty cut, Farage says Reform would get rid of ‘lunatic’ green levies – including the Electric Car Grant
Reform UK says it would scrap the Electric Car Grant in order to prevent the hike in fuel duty that’s set to come into force in September. This comes as oil prices surge amid the ongoing conflict in Iran and the wider Middle East, with petrol already at the highest point it's been for over a year just days after military operations began.
On Monday, oil prices spiked as high as $119 per barrel – the highest it’s been since near the start of the Ukraine war in 2022 – but soon dropped to around $88 per barrel on Tuesday. Despite this and U.S President Donald Trump’s claim that the conflict in Iran will be over “very soon”, there are still fears that drivers will be hit hard at the pumps.
In fact, the impact has already been felt; according to the RAC, between the 28 February and 10 March, the average price of petrol rose from 133.83 pence per gallon to 137.78 pence per litre. This is the equivalent of roughly £2 extra per tank of fuel for the 55-litre fuel tank of your average family car, with prices expected to climb higher still.
With this in mind, Reform UK has called on the Labour Government to scrap the so-called ‘unwinding’ of the five pence cut to fuel duty that’s expected to begin in September. The five pence cut was introduced all the way back in March 2022 to try and mitigate some of the effects of the aforementioned war in Ukraine and was always meant to be a temporary measure.
Nevertheless, speaking at a party event in Derbyshire, leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, said such levies “are put on by politicians who don’t fill up their cars or who ride bicycles in North London”. The MP for Clacton-on-Sea said Reform would, if it was in power, forgo proposed hikes for fuel duty by scrapping the Electric Car Grant, as well as Carbon Capture Spending.
In a statement, a spokesperson for HM Treasury told Auto Express that the Government “ha[s] the right plan”, reiterating that the fuel duty cut funding would begin by 1p rise in September, followed by a further 2p rise in December and then finally another 2p rise in March 2027.
For now, a rise in LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) prices could also see electricity prices rise – but not in the immediate future. The energy price cap has already been set for the three months from April, at 5.74p per kWh for gas and 24.67p per kWh for electricity. This could rise significantly from July as suppliers contend with spiralling wholesale costs and thus make charging an EV at home or using public infrastructure more expensive.
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