DRIVERS were on the cusp of cheaper petrol prices today as The Sun’s crusade to cut fuel duty thundered towards victory.
Demands for Rishi Sunak to slash the tax intensified as stats reveal he raked in a stonking £4.5BILLION more from motorists last year.
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The extra cash pouring into the Treasury coffers hands Mr Sunak obvious headroom to help drivers at the pumps in tomorrow’s mini-Budget.
A legion of Tory MPs, campaigners and hard-up Britons are demanding at least a 5p cut to fuel duty at the Spring Statement.
Rocketing oil prices have pushed the cost of filling up an average family car’s tank past £100 for the first time ever.
More than 50 Tory MPs have written to the Chancellor to demand he shaves some pennies off the petrol levy.
The campaign was handed more firepower today as government figures showed drivers paid an eye-watering £24billion in fuel duty last year.
It’s up from £19.5billion the previous year when less people were on the roads during the pandemic.
It is expected Mr Sunak will answer the cries for help by cutting the 57.95p a litre rate, where it’s been frozen for the past decade thanks to The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign.
Motorists are crossing their fingers Dishi Rishi could lop as much as 10p off the tax to save drivers from crippling prices at the pumps.
Howard Cox, director of FairFuel UK, said: “The Chancellor is awash with fuel tax revenue.
“So, with the billions of extra duty, the much hated VAT generated on the fuel levy itself, and on the record high pump prices too, Rishi has massive room to cut Fuel Duty by way more than 5p per litre.
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“Time to deliver Chancellor, don’t tinker at the fiscal edges, make a difference to the millions who put your Government into a comfortable ruling majority.”
The Treasury clawed in £31billion more in National Insurance last year than the previous 12 months thanks to more people in work after lockdown.
It piles pressure on Rishi to ditch the hated 1.25 percentage point hike next month just as the cost of living bites.
NICs is set to rise from 12 per cent to 13.25 per cent on April 1 to raise £13billion to pay for the NHS.
Someone earning £15,000 will pay an extra £64 a year, rising to £252 for someone on £30,000.
An army of Tory MPs are begging for the tax whack to be scrapped or at least changed to raise the threshold at the point it’s paid.
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