Diesel crosses £2-a-litre as Burnham dodges fuel duty question and Trump threatens to make it WORSE

From the Newshound archive · first published 30 September 2026.

The average diesel price has hit 200.03p a litre for the first time ever, with a third of Britain's 8,100 forecourts already charging above the £2 threshold. Prime Minister Andy Burnham refused to commit to cancelling a planned fuel duty rise in January, telling the BBC he is "considering everything" but flagging the state of the public finances. The RAC Foundation warns 86p of every litre goes straight to the Treasury in duty and VAT, with experts warning prices could surge to £3 a litre if Trump presses ahead with a threatened 90-day ban on US diesel exports.

Diesel has not been this expensive since June 2022, when Russia's Ukraine invasion pushed prices to 199.09p — a record surpassed this week amid the US-Iran war blocking the Strait of Hormuz.

A family filling a 55-litre diesel car now pays around £110 a tank — £340 more per year than in early July.

Drivers in Rugby, Warwickshire, face a 30p-per-litre gap between forecourts just miles apart, forcing some residents onto public transport in what locals call a 'petrol pump postcode lottery'.