Chancellor Philip Hammond urged to ‘turbocharge’ a Brexit by slashing fuel duty in Autumn Statement

THE CHANCELLOR was last night urged to “turbocharge” a Brexit by slashing fuel duty – as a new report claimed it won’t cost him a penny.

The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) said a 3p cut would save households £116 a year, trigger a £850 million boost for the economy and create 8,000 jobs.

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Any lost duty would be made up through greater income and business tax receipts.

The CEBR said: “There would be no change in the net tax position.”

Fuel duty is set to rise in April for the first time in six years unless Chancellor Philip Hammond acts in the Autumn Statement.

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The report commissioned by campaign group FairFuelUK said that deciding to freeze it for the rest of the decade would save the poorest paid Brits in the country an extra £120.

Tory fuel campaigner Charlie Elphicke said: “This report clearly shows cutting fuel duty would be a huge boost for hard-working classes of modern Britain. It would mean more jobs – and more money in the pockets of families and small business. This is a powerful case for the Chancellor.”

Quentin Willson, FairFuel lead campaigner said: “Our CEBR report proves there’s no cost to the Government but huge benefits to businesses and families by cutting fuel duty.

“The Chancellor can’t ignore our evidence.”

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Fuel duty has been frozen ever since 2011 thanks to The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign. But it remains among the highest rates in Europe – accounting for nearly 58 per cent of the pump price.

Yesterday’s call came MPs an FairFuelUK delivered a petition calling for a cut and the creation of a PumpWatch fuel price regulator into the Treasury.

The petition has been signed by 53 Tory MPs and 20,000 motorists.

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The Treasury said like all taxes, fuel duty was being “kept under review”.

A spokeswoman said: “The Government has frozen fuel duty in every year from 2011 to less the impact of high fuel prices on households and business costs.

“By April 2017, fuel duty will have been frozen for six successive years resulting in the longest fuel duty freeze for 40 years.”