Andy Burnham has been urged to avert a looming diesel fuel “disaster” after Donald Trump threatened a total export ban on the fuel at the UN.
Speaking alongside Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, Mr Trump said he and US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had been “examining” a ban on diesel leaving the States.
Mr Bessent said the US was deciding between a full or partial export ban – with a decision set to be made “fast”.
But Reform’s Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick has now sounded the alarm in Britain.
“The US supplies one sixth of diesel consumed in the UK, so this move could threaten our economic security,” he said last night.
Mr Jenrick may have underegged the figures – with the US thought to account for about 31 per cent, or nearly a third, of UK imports.
The Reform MP added: “Meanwhile, Labour oversaw the shutdown of domestic refineries at Grangemouth and Lindsey last year, due to high operating costs.
“As a former MI6 director warned recently, Britain’s energy policy is a threat to national security.
“And tax on diesel is due to rise again in January, as Rachel Reeves’s postponed five per cent duty hike – which Reform would cancel – returns to bite motorists.
“Will Andy Burnham avert this disaster? TikTok videos don’t fill up the car, the tractor or the generator.”
‘The US supplies one sixth of diesel consumed in the UK, so this move could threaten our economic security,’ Robert Jenrick said
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REUTERS
Elizabeth de Jong, the chief executive of trade group Fuel Industry UK said: “We are currently having to import about 55 per cent of our road diesel, meaning a growing dependence on overseas supply.
“Global events such as the conflict in the Middle East demonstrate the vital role that UK refineries play and why they are crucial to our economy.”
Though when asked whether he had sympathy with countries like the UK suffering from high prices because of the Iran war, Donald Trump said: “I think as soon as the war is over, the numbers are going to come way down, pricing generally, because oil is the big thing.
“When oil goes up – and we had to do that because we have to stop them, and I think we feel very united on that, we can’t let Iran have a nuclear weapon.
“And people understand that in the United States, and they’re paying more than – less than Biden, by the way, less than the Biden administration and yet he did nothing about the threat of nuclear terror.”
‘Will Andy Burnham avert this disaster?’ Robert Jenrick asked
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PAThe export ban threat came just days after the RAC warned the average price for the fuel would likely hit a record within days.
The RAC said that with diesel prices just 4p off the record of 199.09p set on June 25, 2022, a new all-time high looks set to be hit soon.
Simon Williams, the firm’s head of policy, said the new price high looks “increasingly likely”.
“Diesel has risen nearly 12p (11.72p) this month, with 5p being added in the last week alone”, he said.
“The average price of petrol has now topped 172p (172.02p) having gone up more than 10p so far in September and 3.6p in the last week. The last time it was this high was August 17, 2022.”
A new all-time diesel price high looks set to be hit soon
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PA
The cost to fill an average-sized family car with diesel now costs £107.43, or £29 more than on February 28.
Filling an average petrol-powered car now costs £94.61, or £21.55 more than at the end of February when the war in Iran began.
It comes amid wider volatility, with global energy prices set to push inflation higher by the end of the year, according to the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee.
The rate of Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rose to 3.1 per cent last month, largely driven by the aforementioned hike in petrol and diesel prices.
Williams added: “This means the average household which buys fuel twice a month is having to find an £43 extra for petrol and £58 for diesel compared to the start of the conflict.”
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