Reform UK Proposes Temporary VAT Cut on Road Fuel
In Australia, the Labor government has announced thaOnly last week Reform UK called for VAT on road fuel to halved for three months. Explaining the policy, Reform UK said:
"The tax cut would reduce pump prices by around 12p per litre for petrol and 14p per litre for diesel at current prices, at a static exchequer cost of about £1.5bn. The measure could be funded within current spending envelopes using the estimated £2.7bn windfall from higher oil prices that the chancellor has received."
Tories Propose Removing VAT on Household Energy Bills for Three Years
At the Conservative party conference last year, the Tories announced plans to cut £165 a year from the average household energy bill.
Today, Kemi Badenoch is visiting an oil rig in the North Sea to publicise what the Conservatives are calling their cheap energy plan. In addition to the measures announced last year, they are now proposing removing VAT from household energy bills for three years. They say this would save the average household £94 per year, at a cost of £2.2bn. They plan to fund this by cutting subsidies for renewables.
In a statement issued overnight, Badenoch said:
"Labour promised to cut energy bills by £300 but they are still higher than when they took office. Instead, Ed Miliband is blocking drilling in the North Sea during an energy crisis and Rachel Reeves is hiking taxes on working families to pay the energy bills of those on benefits.
The Conservatives would use extra tax revenue from our plan to Get Britain Drilling in the North Sea to cut taxes and ease the cost of living. Our Cheap Power Plan would scrap VAT on energy bills and cut bills by £200 for every family.
Badenoch also says the Tories would ‘back the North Sea’ by allowing new oil and gas drilling licences to be issued, and repealing the windfall tax on energy firms. They claim this would boost tax revenues, which could be used to cut costs for households."
Labour Highlights 13 Key Cost of Living Measures Ahead of Local Elections
As Jessica Elgot reports in her overnight story on the Labour local elections launch this morning, Keir Starmer will also highlight what Labour is doing to help people with the cost of living.
In his news release issued ahead of the launch, Labour has highlighted more than a dozen measures coming into force within the next week that it says will help people with the cost of living. Here is the list.
Key cost of living measures coming into force on 1 April:
- Prescription charge freeze, keeping prescriptions under £10
- National Living Wage (age 21+) rises to £12.71 an hour - 4.1% increase
- National Minimum Wage (age 18-20) rises to £10.85, under 18 £8, apprentice £8
- Energy bill support - average £117 reduction on household energy bills, applied to all households on top of £150 Warm Homes Discount for millions of low income households.
- Benefits uprating - most inflation-linked benefits to rise by 3.8% (CPI Sept 2025)
- Crisis & Resilience Fund launches (replacing Household Support Fund). New £1 billion per year fund begins April 2026. Offers: Cash‑first crisis payments; Housing payments (replacing Discretionary Housing Payments)
- Healthy Start vouchers increase by 50p a week
Key cost of living measures coming into force on 6 April:
- State pension uplift - increasing by 4.8% rising to £241.30 per week
- Two child limit removed - expected to lift 450,000 children out of poverty
- Statutory Sick Pay rights from day 1
- Day one entitlement to paternity leave and unpaid parental leave
- Universal credit standard allowances receive an additional 2.3% uplift
Starmer Links Iran War to Need for Labour Values at Local Elections Launch
Keir Starmer will today chair a meeting in Downing Street on how the government responds to the economic consequences of the Iran war, which has the potential to disrupt much of the government's efforts to improve living standards. Despite this, he is scheduled to attend an event in the West Midlands to launch Labour’s English local elections campaign.
The launch is relatively low-key, with the Westminster press pack not invited for a full Q&A, according to Politico. Starmer will return to London later for his Iran war meeting.
No one expects Labour to perform well in the local elections. Last week, Stephen Fisher, an Oxford politics professor and elections expert who works with John Curtice on general election exit polls, published projections for seat gains and losses in the English local elections based on current polling and other factors. The forecast is discouraging for Labour.
Fisher notes that his equivalent forecast for Labour losses in 2025 was reasonably accurate.
According to extracts from his speech briefed in advance, Starmer will not forecast success for Labour at the local elections but will argue that the war in Iran makes Labour’s presence more necessary than ever. He will say:
"We’re going to fight to earn every vote. Fight for our values. And fight for the country we are building together, a Britain built for all.
Because, in the context of everything that is happening in the world. Those values – that fairness we stand for – it’s never been more important.
That is the thing about the volatile world we live in now. It tests, not just our security, our strength on the world stage. It is also tests our fairness at home. Our unity."
He will also criticize Reform UK and the Conservatives for their initial unqualified support for President Trump’s decision to go to war.
"We will protect our forces, our people, our allies in the region. But I made the decision that it is not in our national interest to commit British forces to a war, without a clear legal basis and a clear plan – and I stand by that.
It’s a question of judgement. Do not forget that the Tories and Reform would have rushed us into this. With no thought of the consequences, including for the cost of living. Utterly reckless."
Agenda for the Day
- 9.15am: Eluned Morgan, the Welsh first minister, launches Labour’s campaign for the Senedd elections.
- Morning: Keir Starmer launches Labour’s campaign for the English local elections in the West Midlands.
- 10.30am: Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, launches Plaid’s campaign for the Senedd elections.
- 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
- Afternoon: Starmer hosts a roundtable with business leaders to discuss the impact of the Iran war.
- 2.40pm: Zack Polanski, the Green party leader, addresses the National Education Union’s conference.
- Afternoon: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, and Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, take part in a virtual meeting with G7 counterparts to discuss the economic impact of the Iran war.
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