Starmer’s cost of living adviser urges him to extend fuel duty cut in light of Iran war
A cut to fuel duty should be extended to reflect the rise in petrol prices, the government’s cost of living champion has said.Richard Walker, the executive chair of the supermarket chain Iceland, urged Keir Starmer not to raise the levy in September, in light of the conflict in the Middle East.The strait of Hormuz, a crucial trading artery between the Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, has been blockaded since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran at the end of February.A fifth of the world’s oil passes through the strait, and its closure has sent global prices soaring, putting pressure on the world economy.Fuel duty is frozen until September, when the government will review any rise.
Other countries such as Australia have already acted to shield motorists from soaring costs.Lord Walker, a Labour peer who was given the cost of living brief by Starmer in February, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Friday: “The 5p fuel duty cut that you allude to is an interesting one.That’s going to expire in September.I think, given where we are, we do need to be thinking and talking about extending it or enlarging it.“Interestingly, the Australian government, I was reading, have recently taken 14p per litre cut to their fuel tax.
I mean, this cut is 5p.”The previous Conservative government introduced a 5p per litre cut in fuel duty in March 2022.The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said in her budget last November that this would be extended until August, before rates would gradually increase over a five-year period.Starmer has said the planned rise in September would be kept “under review” in light of the war.According to the RAC, the latest average price of a litre of diesel at UK forecourts is up 30%, to 185.
2p since the start of the war.It said petrol prices had climbed 16% to an average of 154.5p per litre in the same period.Opposition parties have put pressure on the government to address the cost of living crisis by putting forward their own proposals to reduce bills.The Conservatives have called for VAT on energy bills to be scrapped for the next few years, while Reform UK has said it would reduce VAT on fuel.
The Liberal Democrats said they wanted a 10p cut in fuel duty.
Timeforshowcasing into Classic contention after Burradon success
Charlie Johnston picked up a decent bonus on top of the trainer’s share of the prize money after backing Timeforshowcasing for the Burradon Stakes at Newcastle on Friday at prices up to 25-1, and could now fast-track his filly into Classic company at either Newmarket or the Curragh next month.Timeforshowcasing was up against some promising colts and geldings in the Listed contest over a mile but travelled easily through the early stages before taking it up at the furlong pole and holding off the late challenge of Padraig Dawn by a neck.“All day I’ve been thinking, ‘what do people know that I don’t?’, because this filly worked last Thursday and I thought she was in phenomenal order,” Johnston said.“She was 6-1, went out to 10-1, then 16s and she’s won at 25-1. I hope my bookmaker gives best odds guaranteed
Bill Leyland completes unlikely St Helens comeback to stun leaders Wigan
The derby rarely fails to disappoint, but just when you think this 130-year-old rivalry cannot get any more unbelievable, this happens. The scoreline looks unremarkable, but that tells only a fraction of the story of the 367th meeting between St Helens and Wigan.The pre-match talk was not who would win, it was how many Wigan, the league leaders going into the Easter programme, would win by. Saints, humiliated 52-10 at Hull KR last week, were without a dozen first-team regulars, many of them starters. They soon lost a 13th when prop Agnatius Paasi limped off after four minutes
The Boat Races, FA Cup quarter-finals and county cricket – follow with us
John Brewin straps in as a weekend of FA Cup quarter-final action looms large. Breaking news and reader input are the orders of the day before the first of Saturday’s three last-eight games kicks off at the Etihad as Manchester City – last season’s beaten finalists – host Liverpool, Cup winners in 2022. There’s bound to be reaction from Friday’s Championship fixtures while in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers will go above Hearts at the top for the first time this season if they beat Dundee United before the pacesetters face Livingston on Sunday. Join the conversation by emailing matchday.live@theguardian
Different strokes: Channel 4 steps up for debut as Boat Races get makeover
Channel 4 has screened plenty of elite sport since launching in 1982. Test cricket, the Tour de France, the Paralympics and even, for those with long memories, Masters golf in the mid-80s.Traditionally regarded as the most progressive and forward-thinking terrestrial TV channel, on Saturday a new string will be added to its sporting bow: the Boat Races, part of the English calendar since 1829. The plan is for an old event, famously and often controversially contested by Oxford and Cambridge universities, to acquire a new look.Clare Balding, previously the face of the BBC’s longstanding coverage, will again be the presenter but Jamie Laing – reality TV star, Radio 1 DJ and podcaster – arrives alongside
Tiger Woods told police he talked to ‘the president’ after arrest, bodycam shows
Bodycam footage of Tiger Woods’s arrest for DUI shows the golfer looking surprised when he was handcuffed by police officers at the scene of a vehicle crash last week and telling a deputy he had spoken to “the president” on the phone after the incident.“I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, and you’re under an unknown substance, so at this time you’re under arrest for DUI,” Martin County Sheriff’s deputy Tatiana Levenar told Woods after officers conducted a series of field sobriety exercises on the 50-year-old.“I’m being arrested?” Woods asked Levenar. She responded: “Yes, sir.”In the footage, obtained Thursday by the Guardian, as a deputy instructs him to wait nearby while taking a phone call following the crash, Woods is heard telling the officer, “I was just talking to the president
A family holiday, a lewd photo and a defamation suit. Inside the Luke Sayers saga and the AFL’s day in court
It was an incongruous place for an AFL scandal to unfold: on a family holiday in Italy during the northern winter of 2025.On the morning of 8 January that year, an image of Luke Sayers’ penis was posted on his X account.Sayers is the former president and chief executive of two blue-blooded institutions: the Carlton football club, and PwC.The post, in which a senior executive of a major Carlton sponsor was also tagged, was deleted about 15 minutes later. Instead, the @LukeSayers account posted: “Sorry my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts”
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Court dismisses former WhatsApp security chief’s lawsuit against Meta
County cricket: Gay makes hay on opening day to blast season’s first century
Foakes to the rescue for Surrey as County Championship makes its earliest start