Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak have been warned by Tory MPs against raising fuel duty ahead of the budget. This follows reports that the Chancellor may be considering ending the freeze on fuel duty rates which has been in place for a decade. Political Correspondent Tamara Cohen told Sky News that these MPs are worried that the policy may “send the wrong message about the Government’s priorities”.

She said: “It’s not unusual for Tory MPs to go on about all kinds of tax cuts before budgets.

“What’s interesting about this is that it’s a very punchy letter from 18 Tories, including 14 newly elected ones in former Labour strongholds.

“They’re saying this would clobber blue-collar voters, the people who Boris Johnson promised to deliver for.

“They’re saying it would send the wrong message about the Government’s priorities, that the Government doesn’t have the priorities of the people at its heart.”

Ms Cohen continued: “That’s the difficulty. Boris Johnson, who during the election campaign, said that he would not be raising fuel duty has said that he understands that people have lent him their vote and he needs to deliver for them.

“They’re saying that this would be considered not delivering.

“So where does the money come from? Because we know that in this budget the Government have promised, in their manifesto, increases for health, education, hiring all these new police officers.

“If it doesn’t come from ending the freeze on fuel duty, which has been there for 10 years, and if they can’t do it now after an election win they may not be able to do it for the rest of this Parliament, they’re in some difficultly.”

The Sky correspondent added: “Although I’m hearing this morning that they may back away from that and instead get rid of some of the subsidies for red diesel, which is what goes in farm vehicles and lorries, it doesn’t make as much money.

“Getting rid of the fuel duty freeze would give the Government an extra £4 billion a year.”

Mr Sunak, who was appointed following the resignation of Sajid Javid, confirmed that the budget will still go ahead on March 11.

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Mr Javid is expected to make a “polite” statement at PMQs today.

The economic think tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has warned that Mr Sunak may have to put up taxes if he is to maintain the Government’s rules on borrowing.

IFS Director Paul Johnson told Sky News: “It’s cost an awful lot keeping fuel duty down for a decade.

“The amount of money coming into the Exchequer is £6 billion a year less today than if he’d simply increased it in line with inflation over the last 10 years.

“This is a Government supposedly committed to net zero emissions by 2050, at a period when it’s been effectively reducing the tax on one of the biggest sources of emissions, which is driving.”

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