UPDATE 1-UK cancels a planned rise in motor fuel tax

The new 12-month road tax holiday will save hauliers up ⁠to £912 ​per vehicle, ⁠the government added. "I know many are feeling the pressure of energy and fuel costs, ⁠and are worried about how the conflict in Iran will affect their ​finances," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in the statement. It was not immediately clear how much the latest extension would cost.

Britain will ​cancel a planned rise in ‌tax ​on motor fuel and give a 12-month road tax holidayto hauliers, the government said ‌on Wednesday, part of its efforts to ease cost-of-living pressures driven in part by the Middle East conflict.

A freeze on fuel duty, currently saving ‌drivers 5 pence per litre, was due to expire in September,but ‌will now be extended for the rest of the year, the government said in a statement. The new 12-month road tax holiday will save hauliers up ⁠to £912 ​per vehicle, ⁠the government added.

"I know many are feeling the pressure of energy and fuel costs, ⁠and are worried about how the conflict in Iran will affect their ​finances," Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in the statement. "That’s why this ⁠government is stepping in to keep fuel costs down for millions of drivers."

The ⁠freeze ​in fuel duty - first announced in 2022 and then extended four times under successive governments - was supposed to last 12 ⁠months, with a cost to the government of £2.4 billion, a government research briefing ⁠said in ⁠January. It was not immediately clear how much the latest extension would cost.