Chancellor Rachel Reeves has branded a heckler “not very British” after he repeatedly shouted at her while she was taking questions from the media. The incident occurred on Wednesday as Ms Reeves was giving a broadcast interview at a petrol station in Leeds.
The heckler, driving a truck adorned with two St George’s flags on the roof, interrupted the Chancellor by shouting “Nigel Farage, go on Nigel” before adding: “You’re ruining the country. Get Keir Starmer out.” As he drove away, he leaned out of the window and said: “I’ve got British flags on. Am I going to get arrested? We’ve got English flags on here, Rachel, am I going to get arrested? Look at Rachel Reeves there, with a smile on her face.”
In a wry response, Ms Reeves told him: “I love our country. I love our country, and one of the things about our country is good manners. Not very British.” Turning to journalists, she joked: “So he didn’t hear the news about fuel duty.”
Fuel Duty Cut Extended
The incident came as Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the 5p per litre fuel duty cut, originally introduced by the Conservatives in March 2022, would be extended for the rest of the year. This means the rate will remain at nearly 53p per litre. According to the Treasury, the cut will have saved the average driver £120 since 2025 by the end of this year.
Additionally, a 12-month road tax holiday will save drivers £600 for a typical heavy lorry and £912 for the largest vehicles. Farmers, rail freight operators, and other red diesel users will also see their fuel duty reduced by over a third until the end of the year. Ministers described this as the lowest rate in over 20 years.
Ms Reeves commented: “Given what’s happening in the Middle East, it is important that we now provide certainty. This war is not a war that we started, it’s not a war that we joined, but it is having an impact on people here in the UK, and despite the decline in inflation that we’ve seen in the numbers that have just come out, I obviously recognise the challenges that families and businesses are facing, and so we’re keeping that freeze in place until the end of this year.”
