Healey Cuts Food Tariffs and Freezes Fuel Duty Before Budget
The chancellor, John Healey, has unveiled five “everyday fixes” ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, removing import tariffs on more than 100 food products and making the 55p-a-mile business mileage rate permanent. Fuel duty is expected to be frozen again. “We can’t control global events, but we can act where we can make a difference,” he said.
The measures are deliberately small, and the Treasury frames them that way: Mr Healey calls them “just a small part” of giving families breathing space, blaming conflict in the Middle East and Europe for higher everyday costs. The tariff package is the second this year; with June’s, the government expects consumer savings of roughly £245m to £595m a year. Other fixes extend two weeks’ paternity pay, worth up to £194 a week, to self-employed fathers, and add Post Office drop boxes. Treasury insiders warn the Budget itself will be low-key, with hard tax and spending choices deferred to next year’s spending review — a source of unease among Labour MPs who expected bigger change from Andy Burnham.