Protesters urge 'no more fuel duty rises' 

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is under growing pressure to suspend forthcoming rises in fuel duty after it emerged that the Treasury is set to pick up an unexpected £3 billion tax windfall from the soaring price of oil.

Farmers and road hauliers have threatened the Prime Minister with nationwide fuel protests in the run-up to Christmas unless the Government passes on some of the extra income to motorists.

The price of oil has risen by 50%, with the AA predicting that the cost of a litre of petrol will pass through the £1 barrier for the first time in the next two to three weeks. A litre of diesel hit a record high of more than £1 last Friday.

Despite this, ministers pushed ahead with a 2p rise in petrol duty this month and are planning another 2p rise in April, followed by yet another increase in 2009. All three rises were announced in the March Budget.

According to an analysis by the accountants Grant Thornton, the sharp rise in the price of North Sea oil this year will generate an extra £3 billion for the Treasury - enough to fund a 6p cut in fuel duty.

David Handley, the chairman of Farmers for Action, which organised the fuel blockades in 2000, said: "It looks like we may well take to the streets again."

Roger King, the chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said his members were furious at the Government's 'twisted logic' on fuel prices.

Source: AutoWired