Haigh: Ministers “too busy” infighting to deal with “profiteering” petrol retailers

Louise Haigh has accused ministers of being “too busy tearing themselves apart” to tackle the “shameless profiteering” of petrol retailers after the RAC concluded that prices at the pump are not falling in line with wholesale costs.

The Shadow Transport Secretary said this afternoon: “The Conservative government is too busy tearing themselves apart to tackle the shameless profiteering of petrol giants, hitting working people hard.

“It is a scandal that firms making multi-billion pound profits refuse to pass on falling costs to hard-pressed motorists. They are being taken for a ride, while this hapless government refuses to lift a finger.

“The Tories promised months ago to take action but are kicking the can down the road – they need to act and put money back in people’s pockets.”

The RAC revealed today that the average price of petrol fell by nearly 9p in July to 182.69p a litre, equating to nearly a £5 drop in the cost of a 55-litre tank of petrol. Diesel prices came down by almost 7p to 192.38p per litre, reducing the cost of a fill-up by £3.68.

But the motoring organisation said the reductions “still don’t fairly reflect the fall in the wholesale price of fuel”, declaring that major retailers “should be cutting pump prices much further”.

The RAC found that the wholesale price of petrol had fallen for eight consecutive weeks by a “whopping” 20p – from 151.93p per litre at the start of June to 131.75p in the final week of July.

It noted that the last time wholesale prices were at the same level was in early May and that a week later, the UK average pump price was just 167p a litre.

The RAC said the 9p drop in petrol prices in July was “far too slow” even after factoring in the time it takes for smaller retailers to use up their existing fuel and buy more supply at the new lower price.

It said the failure of the biggest retailers to reduce pump prices in line with the fall in wholesale prices “has cost drivers dear and is still doing so”. Based on average wholesale prices last week, the RAC estimates that drivers are paying nearly £9 a tank more for petrol than they should be and nearly £6 extra per tank of diesel.

RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “July has been an unnecessarily tough month for drivers due to the big four supermarkets’ unwillingness to cut their prices to a more a reasonable level, reflecting the consistent and significant reductions in the wholesale cost of petrol and diesel.

“As it was, we saw independent retailers leading the charge with fairer pump prices appearing all around the country which eventually forced the supermarkets to finally implement a more substantial cut late last Friday afternoon.”

He added: “The best advice for filling up is no longer to assume the supermarkets are the cheapest, but to shop around as it’s highly likely you’ll find an independent retailer which is doing the right thing and fairly reflecting their lower wholesale costs by charging a lower price.”