BP and UK supermarkets urged to cut petrol prices

Fuel retail giant BP and UK supermarket chains have been urged to cut petrol prices.

The Financial Times reported the AA claimed BP, which unveiled its highest quarterly profits for 14 years on Tuesday, was charging “what they can get away with” at petrol stations.

The paper also reports the RAC Limited (a British automotive services company) accused supermarket chains Asda, Wm Morrison, Tesco and J Sainsbury of an “unwillingness to cut their prices to a more reasonable level”. 

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The demand for fuel price cuts comes as the Bank of England is widely expected on Thursday to increase interest rates, possibly by half a percentage point, to curb surging inflation.

The Resolution Foundation Think-tank said it was “plausible” consumer price inflation could hit 15 per cent in the first quarter of next year, partly because of rising fuel prices.

Motoring organisations are concerned that fuel retailers are not fully passing on a recent fall in wholesale prices to their customers on garage forecourts.

Boris Johnson under pressue

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sought to reset his embattled leadership with vows to tackle Britain’s cost-of-living crisis, including contentious new measures to boost home ownership.

AFP reports Johnson is under pressure to turn the page on a series of scandals including lockdown-breaching parties in Downing Street.

In a speech in Blackpool, northwest England, Johnson promised new reforms “to help people cut costs in every area of household expenditure – from food to energy to childcare to transport and housing”.

“This government is on the side of the British public in coping with those pressures.”

The scale of the inflationary crisis hitting millions of Britons was underlined as the price of filling up the average family car topped £100 (R 2 040) for the first time, according to the RAC motoring group.

RAC spokesman Simon Williams called it “a truly dark day” for hard-pressed drivers, and urged the government to slash sales tax on petrol and diesel.

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