Stuart Masson, Editorial Director of The Car Expert, says John Healey’s first Budget took motorists for granted, recycled measures drivers already had, and left Britain being lapped by its European neighbours on electric cars:
“If the Chancellor values Britain’s motorists, he has a very funny way of showing it. Almost 35 million cars on our roads, millions of people who have no choice but to drive, and what did they get today? A rerun of old announcements, dressed up as help. This wasn’t a Budget for drivers – it was a Budget that hoped drivers wouldn’t notice.
“Let’s start with fuel duty. Announcing a fuel duty freeze is about as newsworthy as announcing the sun will rise tomorrow. Duty has been stuck at 52.95p a litre since March 2022, and planned rises have now been ducked for 16 years running. Pump prices still went through the roof this summer at exactly the same rate. The Treasury is taking a bow for not doing something it was never going to do.
“Then there’s the pavement tax – and it is a disgrace. Charge your car at home and you now pay no VAT on your electricity. Charge it at a public point and you pay 20%. That is a tax on not owning a driveway, and it lands on the roughly one in three households without off-street parking – people in flats, terraces and rented homes. A tax tribunal has already said the higher rate is wrong. The government’s answer? Appeal it, ignore it, and carry on pocketing the difference.
“And please don’t tell drivers the 55p-a-mile* business rate is a Budget giveaway. We unwrapped that present back in May – it has been paid since April. Making it permanent today is re-gifting, not generosity, and it only came after the rate sat frozen for 15 years while motoring costs soared.
“Meanwhile, Britain is being lapped. Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland have all pushed electric cars past 40% of new sales, and eight European countries are already above 30%. We are stuck at around a quarter. Ministers love to lecture carmakers about targets, but they won’t lift a finger to help the drivers who actually have to buy the cars. And just to make sure nobody gets too excited, there is still a 3p-a-mile tax on electric cars waiting in 2028.
“You cannot demand that people switch to electric and then tax them for doing it. Cut VAT on public charging to match home charging, give drivers a real incentive to trade in their petrol or diesel car, and put working chargers on the streets where people live. Not one of those things happened today. Drivers were taken for a ride – and they will remember it.”
*55p per mile applies to the first 10,000 business miles driven in a tax year in a driver’s own car or van.
