RACHEL Reeves will today keep the fuel duty freeze — while driving up overall taxes to punishing new levels.
Her package to find more than £30billion is set to include brutal hikes on holidays, betting, taxis, homes and even milkshakes.
New taxes on fun include night-out taxi levies and on hotel stays.
She is also poised to unleash a stealth income tax raid on workers — rowing back on a promise made just last year.
However, in a glimmer of respite. drivers will have their fuel duty frozen for the 15th consecutive year
In a win for The Sun, the Chancellor will also unveil a beefed-up Pumpwatch scheme to save motorists £40 a year.
MOTORIST RELIEF
By Jack Elsom and Martina Bet
DRIVERS will bag a rare Budget win today as Chancellor Rachel Reeves spares them from “Wild West” pump prices.
She is expected to freeze fuel duty for the 15th year of The Sun’s Keep It Down campaign.
Ms Reeves is also set to keep the 5p cut by Rishi Sunak in 2022 — like every Chancellor since.
She is also introducing the Pumpwatch scheme we have long called for. Drivers will soon be able to compare fuel prices on their satnavs as forecourts will be required to publish their prices. Estimates show it may save families £40 on annual fuel bills.
Ms Reeves told The Sun: “Petrol prices are like the Wild West with drivers getting ripped off.
“We’re launching our Fuel Finder so drivers will always know where to get the best deal.”
The AA warned forecourts have “helped themselves” to higher prices and left drivers paying more.
Ms Reeves – a child chess prodigy who was pictured with a board and personalised mug at her desk yesterday – will claim her hand is forced by a major downgrade in UK productivity.
But critics say she has been boxed in by mutinous Labour MPs.
The Chancellor insisted she will make the “fair and necessary” choices as she made final Budget preparations with her team over pizza.
She said last night: “I will not return Britain back to austerity, nor will I lose control of public spending with reckless borrowing.”
Workers are expected to be hit with an £8billion raid as tax thresholds are frozen, dragging more people into higher bands.
Some 500,000 more retirees who only receive the full state pension may also be paying income tax by the end of the decade.
There was also anger last night over an eve-of-Budget announcement that visitors to English cities and regions could pay a new tourist tax.
Regional mayors have been given powers to introduce the levy on overnight stays at hotels, holiday lets and B&Bs.
Affected cities will include London, Manchester and Liverpool but seaside destinations in North Yorkshire such as Scarborough could also be hit.
It will apply equally to UK citizens and foreign travellers, with ministers understood to be looking at a levy of £2 per night.
That would cost a family of four an extra £56 for a week’s stay.
This is the wrong way to make policy and the fastest way to undermine investment.
Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality
One furious business source said: “Taxing hard-working British people taking a break when migrants stay in a hotel tax-free.”
Kate Nicholls, chair of UKHospitality, added: “This is the wrong way to make policy and the fastest way to undermine investment.”
The Chancellor is also considering imposing 20 per cent VAT on private hire operators such as Uber.
The so-called “taxi tax” could bring in around £750million and add £2 to £3 to a £12 journey.
Campaigners say it will hurt the disabled, elderly and those in rural areas.
Meanwhile, pre-packaged milkshakes and lattes will also go up as they become subject to the sugar tax.
Announcing the move, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “We’re on a mission to raise the healthiest generation of children ever, and that means taking on the biggest drivers of poor health.”
But it sparked more criticism. Andrew Opie, of the British Retail Consortium, said: “The inclusion of milk-based drinks, which are an important source of calcium for many people, could push up the price of these drinks and put further pressure on dairy farmers.”
Ms Reeves is also expected to unveil measures including a “mansion tax” on the most expensive properties, which could cost affected homeowners £4,500.
A limit on tax breaks on pension contributions for employees and employers will also be brought in to raise £2billion.
Productivity downturns
Meanwhile, the betting industry is braced for higher taxes on online flutters, along with levies on fruit and slot machines, following pressure from ex-PM Gordon Brown.
Money raised will partly cover the lifting of the two-child benefit cap which is expected to cost around £3billion and has been a flagship demand of Labour MPs.
The chaotic run-up to the Budget saw Ms Reeves bin plans for a manifesto-busting income tax rise.
She has been caught in a bind between Labour MPs who want to increase spending, and money markets concerned about debt levels.
She is set for further criticism today after vowing last year’s £40billion raid was a one-off.
She said her first Budget had “wiped the slate clean” and that she would not need to “come back for more”.
Ms Reeves will blame productivity downturns from Brexit and Tory “austerity” – although polls show it is unlikely to wash with voters.
Her own personal approval ratings have tanked, making her the least-popular Chancellor in modern times.
But PM Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is sticking with her.
- THE Met Police has banned farmers from bringing their tractors to Westminster today for a protest against proposed inheritance tax.
