RISHI Sunak was last night urged to slash fuel duty by at least 5p a litre to help motorists.
Prices have risen by around 20p a litre in the past month alone.
Average prices are at a record 165.9p for petrol and 177.3p for diesel.
The Chancellor has been told to act after France slashed 12p off a litre of petrol, and Ireland followed with 17p.
Tory MP Robert Halfon urged Mr Sunak to cut the duty by at least 5p, and even go further to “really cut the cost of living”.
He said: “Motorists face a ‘fuel empty’ alert on their vehicles as they won’t be able to afford to fill up their tanks for much longer.
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“At the very least a 5p cut will help millions of working people — but Boris and Rishi could follow the example of Ireland and go much further.”
Tory Craig Mackinlay added: “Go on Rishi, put a smile on the face of motorists at your spring statement on Wednesday.
“The Treasury is pocketing billions in windfall VAT on the back of motor fuel and domestic energy price rises.
“At the least, the Chancellor should cut fuel by a minimum of 5p a litre.”
The post-Covid bounceback and war in Ukraine has pushed fuel costs to never-seen-before levels. Filling an average 55-litre tank family car at motorway services hit £100 at the weekend.
Drivers are sacrificing seeing friends and family, going shopping or medical appointments, say campaigners FairFuelUK.
Duty has been frozen at 57.95p a litre for 11 years in a row — thanks to Trending In The News’s Keep it Down campaign.
Urging the Chancellor to follow Ireland’s 17p-a-litre cut and France’s 12p in April, the campaign group’s founder Howard Cox said: “Dear multi-millionaire Chancellor, stop sitting on your myopic belief that the cost of living crisis will solve itself.
“Other countries have reacted and acted quickly. Why haven’t you?”
Last week nearly 50 MPs signed a letter to Mr Sunak urging him to look at a cut.
Yesterday Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Labour wouldn’t block the move but warned: “Even a 5p reduction will only reduce filling up with petrol by £2.
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“So I don’t think that really rises to the scale of the challenge — which is why we are calling for a windfall tax on the big profits being made by North Sea oil and gas companies right now.”
And, backing a cut for the first time, Reeves said her party “won’t stand in the way” of such a move.
