Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA has warned that families and businesses face a winter of crippling costs as fuel prices approach and in places pass £2 a litre. He has renewed the party’s call for an immediate cut in fuel duty and pressed the Executive Office for answers on its winter planning.

Jon Burrows said:

“In March, my colleague Diana Armstrong told the Government to wake up and smell the coffee at the pumps. Six months on, drivers are staring at £2 a litre.

“Northern Ireland is hit harder than anywhere else in the UK. We rely more on diesel, more on the car, and far more on home heating oil. Before the war in the Middle East, 900 litres of oil cost around £536. Today it’s over £1,000, and we haven’t reached the coldest months yet. Those costs feed straight into the price of food, goods and services, so every household feels it.

“A huge portion of what drivers pay is simply tax. The Treasury must deliver a substantial, long-term cut in fuel duty now. Freezing it is no longer enough.

“On 4th September I wrote to the Executive Office asking what crisis planning is in place for this winter, and whether working families just above the current support thresholds will get any help. More than two weeks on, I have had no response. Families can’t afford to wait. The First Minister and deputy First Minister must set out their plan now, before the heating goes on, not after.”