Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for Gainsborough, has welcomed the Chancellor’s decision to cancel the planned fuel duty increase. A series of scheduled rises in the tax on petrol had been planned by the previous Labour government, but the Coalition has scrapped the ‘Fuel Duty Escalator’ and will continue to freeze fuel duty for at least the remainder of the year.

Fuel duty is now 10p per litre lower than under the Labour government’s plan, and motorists are expected to save £159 on filling up the average family car by the end of the year.

“Thanks to the Conservatives being in government, fuel duty has now been frozen for two years,” Edward Leigh said.

“Here in Lincolnshire many of us are dependent upon driving, whether it’s getting our children to school or ourselves to work and the shops, and many of our small businesses rely on the roads to transport their goods and get things done.

“I welcome the Chancellor’s scrapping of the fuel duty increase and I strongly encourage him to go a step further and actually cut the current rate of tax on petrol. A fuel duty cut would provide immediate economic relief for working families and our local businesses.”