Stuart Anderson MP Calls Chancellor’s Economic Update Missed Opportunity
Stuart Anderson MP is “greatly concerned” that planned hikes in fuel duty will disproportionately impact rural communities like South Shropshire.
- Stuart has slammed the Chancellor’s Economic Statement as a “missed opportunity” to support rural communities like South Shropshire.
- Earlier in the day, Stuart had also urged Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to do more to tackle the cost of heating oil which has more than doubled since the conflict in Iran began.
- Stuart is worried that residents in South Shropshire who rely on a car or van to get to work will soon face a double whammy of rising petrol prices and higher fuel tax.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“The Chancellor’s Economic Statement is a missed opportunity to support rural communities like South Shropshire with the exorbitant costs of energy, which have only worsened since the outbreak of the conflict in Iran and the wider region. Rachel Reeves should have used this opportunity to abandon her planned Fuel Duty increase and implement the Conservatives’ Cheap Power Plan, which would reduce electricity bills by twenty per cent. This would have provided immediate relief to households across South Shropshire. It is quite frankly outrageous that the government is raising taxes on Red Diesel at a time when fuel and agricultural commodity prices are already increasing. The hike will result in a nearly ten per cent increase in fuel costs for farmers. This added expense is unsustainable for our farmers, who are already under huge pressure.”
On Tuesday 24th March 2026, Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered a statement to Parliament on government action which she said will protect working people from “unfair price rises” following the outbreak of the conflict in Iran and the wider region, which has pushed up the cost of oil. However, Stuart has criticised the Chancellor for failing to address rising fuel costs, which he said will disproportionately affect rural communities like South Shropshire where two-thirds of residents rely on a car or van to get to work.
Prior to the Statement, the Conservatives had urged the Chancellor to axe planned changes to Fuel Duty, which they first froze in 2011. The Conservatives had also urged the Chancellor to keep the 5p cut in fuel duty, which the Conservatives had introduced response to elevated prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Conservatives had frozen fuel duty for 14 consecutive years, a tax cut worth around £3.1 billion a year and over £100 billion to the cost of driving since 2011. However, at the Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced that Fuel Duty will increase by 1p in September 2026, 2p in December 2025, and 2p in March 2026.
After this point, it will be updated by RPI. Stuart has said the government’s refusal to backtrack on its plans represent the first increase in fuel duty in fifteen years. This is estimated to increase household living costs by £1.9 billion per year – pushing up the price of everyday essentials for residents in South Shropshire and across the country. Together, this will cost the average driver £78.10 per year and a two-car household – which represents more than a third of all households in Shropshire – £156 a year.
Stuart is also concerned that farmers could see a 10 per cent rise in red diesel. Stuart is also concerned that farmers will see a 10 per cent rise in the cost of red diesel by March 2027. He has said that this is unfair on farmers who are already facing rising costs of fertiliser and the Family Farm Tax. It follows publication of a report from Oxford Economics, which warns that rising oil prices will push up farmers’ transport costs.
Stuart has said that the government should adopt the Conservatives’ Cheap Power Plan, which would cut electricity bills by 20 per cent and immediately save the average household £165. It would do so by axing the Carbon Tax, which includes the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and Carbon Price Support on electricity generation, which pushes wholesale electricity prices up by a third.
