FFUK outside parliament

Chancellor George Osborne almost choked on his own Budget today - with the undoubted highlight being some water going down the wrong way mid-speech - but he has frozen the scheduled September fuel duty rise.

Osborne told a rather raucous House of Commons: "We’ve all listened to the people we represent. Today, I am cancelling this September’s fuel duty increase altogether. Petrol will now be 13 pence per litre cheaper than if we had not acted over these last two years to freeze fuel duty."

We are assuming that the fuel duty cut relates to diesel too. Actually, he does - we checked.

One success of the FairFuelUK campaign has been the wider backing of Britain's business community. Take the Federation of Small Business for example.

Chief executive Phil Orford said of the 3ppl rise being scrapped: “The chancellor was absolutely spot on to make this decision today. No one wants to see fuel prices any higher than they are and small businesses will welcome that. Let’s not forget though that prices are fast approaching record highs – any increase would have been reckless so this was just basic common sense.

He added: “We still feel the government needs to implement some kind of fuel stabiliser. The only way we’re going to see anything approaching a fair price for fuel in the UK will be via a mechanism that works to bring fuel tax down when prices are high. Such a system would mean prices as they stand now would not be hovering just shy of £1.50 and taking money from the pockets of consumers better spent elsewhere in the economy.

“Unfortunately the UK will now suffer for another year at the mercy of fluctuating oil prices right when we need it least because of the chancellor’s failure to introduce such a system.”

Has the chancellor created a tax regime when it comes to fuel that encourages entrepreneurs in this 'aspiration nation'? It doesn't look like there is a whole heap of enthusiasm...