Economics of fuel duty freeze praised but move panned as political panic

The Government’s decision not to increase fuel duty was portrayed as panic even by those papers that agreed with it, and the sidelining of Justine Greening in the decision-making process was also prominently featured.

Rik Thomas

06 July 2012

Transport secretary Justine Greening gave an interview to The Daily Mail supporting the planned fuel duty increase less than two days before it was scrapped, with Government "insiders" having allegedly known about the U-turn for over a week

It was an embarrassing few days for transport secretary Justine Greening in late June as the Government scrapped the planned 3p rise in fuel duty just hours after she had told The Daily Mail that the increase would go ahead as planned.

“Motorists will almost certainly have to pay 3.02p more for their fuel at the pumps to help pay-off Britain’s debts, a senior minister has admitted,” The Mail claimed on 25 June. “Transport secretary Justine Greening said she was not...