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

politicsSep 20, 202632416

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 cap on bus fares to £1 and reduce rail fares by 10%. The measures were presented as part of a push to sharpen the party's profile after polling shown the Lib Dems are static at about 12 percent nationally and that just 39 percent of voters say they have an idea what the party stands for. Deputy leader and Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper used a speech to press for closer economic ties with Europe as part of an existing plan to rejoin the EU single market. Leader Ed Davey defended the approach in media interviews, citing eight consecutive years of Lib Dem council election gains and calling the proposals “real change.” Research presented at the conference by More in Common found low recent visibility for the party, with 16 percent of voters saying they had heard from the Lib Dems recently compared with 66 percent for Reform, and just 3 percent saying they had seen Davey on social media versus 20 percent for Nigel Farage. The findings highlighted a regional and socio-economic gap for the party, showing the Lib Dems performed five times better in the least deprived areas at the 2024 election and hold 58 seats in the south versus four in the north. The conference has intensified debate over the party's direction, with Devon County Council leader Julian Brazil publicly saying Ed Davey is not the right person to lead the party.

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.

7819d ago

Jess O'Thomson

@jessothomson.co.uk

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

6319d 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...

3319d 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.

Flaming June1

I do have one, and it bores the socks off me.

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.

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

2319d ago

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

2319d 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

2419d ago

Peter Smith

@redpeter99.bsky.social

Ed Davey might as well announce a night out with your favourite member of Bananarama as well as the 10p cut in fuel duty. The Lib Dems won't have to implement either policy.

2419d ago

Lucy from Chorlton1

Bit blokey Peter. Half the electorate are women and most of them aren’t interested in a night out with anyone from Bananarama. You’re better than this

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!

1720d 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.

1219d 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).

820d ago

James Graham8

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.

920d 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... 👏