Rachel Reeves was last night accused of profiteering from rising fuel prices.
The claim came amid a furious row with petrol bosses.
Kemi Badenoch was joined by some of Britain’s top business chiefs in attacking the Chancellor who is raking in soaring tax receipts from higher prices at the pumps.
The boss of Next, Lord Wolfson, said the Government must not end up profiting from the crisis in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, M&S chief Stuart Machin blamed Labour’s green levies for driving up energy bills for businesses.
The barrage of criticism aimed at Ms Reeves comes as petrol forecourt bosses are at loggerheads with Downing Street.
Both Keir Starmer and his Chancellor have repeatedly suggested retailers are profiteering from the Iran war.
But businesses have argued the Government is the one cashing in because it receives increased revenue through VAT and fuel duty when prices are higher.
Kemi Badenoch was joined by some of Britain’s top business chiefs in attacking the Chancellor (pictured on Wednesday) who is raking in soaring tax receipts from higher prices at the pumps
The barrage of criticism aimed at Ms Reeves comes as petrol forecourt bosses are at loggerheads with Downing Street (Pictured: Petrol pumps labelled with ‘out of use’ signs at a petrol station in Weymouth, Dorset, last week)
Lord Wolfson said: ‘I think a reasonable ask from our industry – and in fact all industry – is that the Government doesn’t end up profiting from it.
‘That would be a very reasonable ask to say to the Government: ‘Don’t actually make more money out of this than you were expecting’.’
After arriving at an event in a Fuel Britannia-branded tanker to highlight the plight of families facing higher bills, Mrs Badenoch called on Labour to apologise after it emerged that there was scant evidence that petrol firms had been price gouging – the term for overcharging for a product that is in short supply or in high demand.
She said forecourt bosses were ‘working hard, getting up early. They’re being taxed to the hilt.
‘They’re being blamed for fuel duty price rises. Where actually it’s Rachel Reeves who’s doing the price gouging.’
Ministers had charged petrol companies with profiteering – even calling bosses and energy suppliers into Downing Street to demand they do not leave drivers paying ‘over the odds’ as the Iran crisis deepens.
Petrol retailers pulled out of the first such meeting because of the hostile language from Whitehall, only to be coaxed back at the last minute.
The margin taken by retailers on a litre of petrol is currently six per cent, according to the RAC.
But fuel duty is fixed at 52.95 pence per litre while a 20 per cent VAT rate means the Government’s take increases as prices go up.
Since the outbreak of war, prices have risen by around 15p a litre for petrol and 30p a litre for diesel – costing UK drivers more than £300million more, according to one analysis this week.
As the country struggles with the cost of living, the Government has faced calls to cancel an upcoming 5p increase to fuel duty.
It will rise by 1p in September, 2p in December and 2p more in March 2027.
After arriving at an event in a Fuel Britannia-branded tanker to highlight the plight of families facing higher bills, Mrs Badenoch (pictured at the event) called on Labour to apologise
Ms Reeves was facing added pressure from Reform yesterday, with treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick (pictured, on a visit to a petrol station in Dover, Kent, on Thursday) calling on her to halve VAT on petrol for three months
But as Labour continues to rule out reversing the cut, the Tory leader blasted Labour for steaming ahead with ‘things that didn’t work’.
At a construction site in West London, Mrs Badenoch said Labour’s approach was ‘impoverishing households, families and businesses’.
She added: ‘It’s time to scrap the silly tax rise which Rachel Reeves is putting on fuel duty. It is time to get Britain working again.’
Ministers this week insisted drivers need not change their driving habits and the Government was ‘absolutely not’ planning for blackouts or petrol rationing.
But former BP executive Nick Butler warned yesterday the UK could face oil and gas shortages in just two to three weeks.
Yesterday a Tesco Superstore in Worcester ran out of petrol.
Ms Reeves was facing added pressure from Reform yesterday, with treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick calling on her to halve VAT on petrol for three months.
He said: ‘She’s making tens of millions of pounds a week in extra tax revenue as a direct result of the war; the least she could do is lessen the blow.’
And the chief executive of Marks & Spencer accused the Government of adding taxes on energy bills that have ‘nothing to do with the price of oil or gas’.
Stuart Machin lambasted green levies – which now make up more than half of the retailer’s energy costs – as ‘just not sustainable’.
‘Over the last few years the ‘policy costs’ on our energy bill have sky-rocketed,’ Mr Machin wrote on LinkedIn.
He also hit out at Labour’s taxes on jobs, which he said were ‘letting down a generation of kids.’
A Treasury source said: ‘We took action precisely to prevent companies exploiting this crisis – and if they do, we will clamp down on it – because Labour is on the side of working people.’
