Lib Dems unveil £2bn plan to cut fuel duty at conference

politicsSep 20, 202627299

At their Brighton conference the Liberal Democrats unveiled a £2bn package to cut fuel duty by 10p a litre for a fixed three-month period, alongside proposals to cut the £3 bus fare cap to £1 and reduce rail fares by 10%. Ed Davey will set out the measures in his main speech on Tuesday after deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper used a Sunday speech to push closer ties with Europe and an existing plan to rejoin the EU single market. The moves come amid polling that shows the Lib Dems static at about 12% nationally and poor public recognition: More in Common research presented at the conference found just 39% of voters said they had an idea what the Lib Dems stand for, 16% said they had heard from the party recently, and only 3% said they had seen Davey on social media. The research also found the party performs five times better in the least deprived areas than the most deprived and that having a local branch of the bakery Gail’s was the strongest predictor of Lib Dem support. While most Lib Dem MPs defend Davey as having delivered the party’s best election result for a century, some members voiced frustration that the party’s message is too vague and geographically narrow, and Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil told the BBC Davey is not the right person to lead the party. Davey insisted in media interviews that the party is delivering real change, pointing to eight consecutive years of council election wins, and the conference will be a test of whether the new proposals sharpen the party’s appeal before the next election.

Robert Saunders

@robertsaunders.bsky.social

For me, "doing better" for the Lib Dems means doing more with the MPs they already have. The key question here is "why should you want a large bloc of Lib Dem MPs"? When there are 72 of them, & liberal-democracy is in crisis, they have both an opportunity & an obligation to give a better answer.

615h ago

Jess O'Thomson

@jessothomson.co.uk

Oh man, the Lib Dems really do be like that sometimes

504h ago

Harry3

By the time a war with Russia has lasted long enough for conscripts to hit the field this is all just a radioactive wasteland anyway.

Jo Wolff

@jowolff.bsky.social

What a boring, unenlightened policy. (Declaration of interest: I don’t have a car. But still.) www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

243h ago

Bill Bankes-Jones #FBPE 🌍🇪🇺🚲❤️8

What do we stand for? I'm not sure. When do we want it? Maybe sometime in the future.

Malcolm Wilson5

A shit, desperately wannabe populist policy.

Howell Harris2

I do have a car (diesel), drive it 000s of miles a year, and agree with you 100%. Just Davey & the LDs showing their unsurprising lack of seriousness, let alone of policy. Conclusion: there is no party left to support except, perhaps, Binface.

Champie1

I have a car, and I don't want this policy.

dnmnb.bsky.social1

Though I don’t live in the UK, I’ll add my 2 cents. I do have a car which I use as seldomly as possible. A lifelong environmentalist and strong advocate for public transportation and infrastructure that not only benefits as many people as possible but promotes a just and sustainable future.

Anthony Painter

@anthonypainter.bsky.social

If you are going to add £2bn to the national debt to make an "on your side" point, could I softly suggest doing so by reducing electricity bills that everyone pays and supports energy transition rather than petrol/diesel that impairs it? Whilst much of it goes to retailers anyhow....

1. ED DAVEY PROMISES TAX CUTS TO WOO VOTERS: Ed

Davey wants voters to back the Lib Dems to cut taxes. The centrist leader is making waves at conference by calling on the government to cut fuel duty by 10p, bringing down prices at the pumps by 12p a liter, and get rid of the planned 3p hike in January.

Pumped up. In a Sunday Times interview Davey said taxes

226h ago

Gordo!

@posting.fan

I forget about the Lib Dem’s a lot, because everyone should, but then they come out with something that reminds me that they’re some of the worst cunts alive

173h ago

Jan

@janhopis.bsky.social

"🚨 NEW: The Lib Dems have called for" and then whatever follows is just the sound of static as my brain automatically tries to tune into something else

142h ago

Cllr Emma Garnett

@greenpartyemma.bsky.social

Really disappointing yet unsurprising to see this. Lib Dems aren't a green party. I hope @libdemsoxon.bsky.social colleagues and @libdemcycling.org.uk give @eddavey.libdems.org.uk an earful at conference!

148h ago

Nick Barlow

@nickbwalking.bsky.social

Monkey's paw curls and the Lib Dems get their own policy brainfart on the front page.

A BBC News headline of Ed Davey pandering to some populist nonsense.

116h ago

James Graham

@jamesgraham.theliberati.net

I was seeing some hopeful signs inside the Lib Dems that they might be shifting gears earlier this year, but it’s all gone pretty quiet for this conference. Davey seems ascendant and unapologetic about his approach, and not enough people in the party seem to care (enough).

77h ago

James Graham7

And part of me is fine about that. The country needs a centre right party to offer stability in the face of an unhinged Tory party (and worse). It just isn’t a party I can support and the alternative - a Green Party reinventing itself as a Corbynite personality cult - doesn’t seem much better.

Aprilciate🍉🏳️‍⚧️2

Someone’s briefing press against him. So his days are officially numbered

Gareth Epps1

It’s not policy, and we don’t support it. And when I say “we”, I mean those of us that actually take decisions on transport policy.

Andrew Hickey1

I'm told that Davey wouldn't even say on Kuenssberg's show today that refugees aren't a threat.

John Lubbock

@jwsal.bsky.social

When the Lib Dems chose a coalition minister for leader, it was clear they were following a more right wing path, and this is where it’s led, to courting Tory voters at the expense of liberal values.

87h ago

Seb Berry 🇺🇦

@seb2024.bsky.social

The wrong priority. In fact, cutting fuel duty shouldn't be a priority at all. Hopeless and hugely disappointing. #LibDems

53h ago

Jon Owen

@anotherjon.bsky.social

Ed continues to lead the Lib Dems opportunistically and despicably to the right.

73h ago

Antony Carpen

@acarpen.bsky.social

"If you want this country to have a successful music industry, you need... ...a pipeline of actual musicians. That starts with children having the chance to sing and learn instruments...Music is a valuable part of our lives" Elysia Hargreaves #LibDems to #LDConf www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_GZ... 👏

33h ago

David Beech

@davidbeech.bsky.social

I was getting criticised by Lib Dems on here when I pointed out the Leader of Oxfordshire council said he backed the Piddington 'referendum' well here it is your actual leader running away from your supposed liberal values. So sit back down lads.

77h ago

James Bottomley1

It's predictable stuff - Libdems have always cynically sounded leftish in Labour voting seats and rightish in Tory ones, but nationally the LDP do much better in formerly Tory seats - they are a more moderate looking right wing option to many Home Counties, Outer London and SW middle class voters.

North of Cam1

Yeah and the local Lib Dem councillor opposed the asylum seekers being placed there and so did the local Lib Dem MP - I mean NIMBY going to NIMBY to extent but..

David Beech1

And, yeah, I've criticised my own party and leader so do tell me if you're a lib dim how you justify this from a supposed liberal party?

Jonathan Roberts

@jonroberts.bsky.social

Labour, repeatedly smashing a big red button labelled “ill thought out policy designed to get right wingers to like us” Lib Dems: Hi. Can we borrow your button?

64h ago

2 sources

theguardian.comLib Dems use conference to set out £2bn plan to cut fuel duty bbc.co.ukLib Dems sleepwalking to irrelevance under Davey, says council leader

Lib Dems unveil £2bn plan to cut fuel duty at conferencepolitics

Lib Dems unveil £2bn plan to cut fuel duty at conference

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