13/10/01 10:02:40.81 gMT2p7PR0 BE:1690892339-2BP(2172)
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Osborne to freeze fuel duty until 2017
URLﾘﾝｸ(www.telegraph.co.uk)
George Osborne announced that he will freeze fuel duty until 2015 as the Conservatives attempted to respond to
Ed Miliband’s pledge to limit energy prices.
The Chancellor told the Conservative Party conference that he wanted British households to “share in the rewards”
of the economic recovery, cancelling a 2p-a-litre rise in fuel that was due to come into force next September.
The promise was the latest shot in the escalating battle between the parties over household finances and the cost of living.
Tory aides said the party will fight the 2015 election claiming that a litre of petrol is 20p cheaper than it would have been
under Labour’s proposed fuel duty escalator for above-inflation increases.
Mr Osborne, however, admitted that the money to pay for the freeze was not in place, setting up discussions in the Coalition
over how to find the necessary hundreds of millions of pounds.
Tory Cabinet ministers and MPs welcomed his speech, following concerns over Mr Miliband’s resurgence in the polls
since his conference speech last week.