Robert Jenrick has accused the Chancellor of doing "absolutely nothing” to help motorists “suffering” from fuel price hikes. Reform UK’s Treasury spokesman took aim at Rachel Reeves during a fuel duty protest outside the government department in London on Monday.

He said: “We're here outside the Treasury to send a very strong message to Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, that enough is enough. Motorists are suffering across the country at the moment from the cost of fuel that is surging. I've been speaking on forecourts all over the country from Dover to Nottingham in recent weeks, and I've met carers, parents who have to rely on their car to take their kids to school, tradesmen and women in their white vans and small family hauliers, and just generally the millions of Brits who rely on their cars, and they're finding life very tough at the moment.

“Our Chancellor is doing absolutely nothing, unlike most of her peers around the world, from Australia to Germany to Spain to Portugal and Ireland.

“Other countries are taking action to cut the cost of fuel. And Rachel Reeves is sitting on her hands, behaving like a bystander.”

Fuel duty has been frozen since 2011, and was cut by 5p in 2022 in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

But in her Budget last year, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the 5p cut would be unwound between September 2026 and March 2027.

The “national fuel tax protest”, attended by Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice, London mayoral candidate Laila Cunningham and MP Sarah Pochin, demanded that the Chancellor walk back her plans amid the surge in fuel prices caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

An AI-generated advert for the event posted on social media by Reform UK featured dozens of vehicles – including tractors, lorries and vans – in the shadow of the Houses of Parliament.

But the only vehicles that attended the demonstration were a double-decker bus and a taxi, both of which featured the party’s branding.

A Treasury spokesman said: “Motorists are paying more because of the war in Iran. This is not our war and that is why we did not join it.

“We are determined to keep costs down for motorists. That’s why we have extended the 5p fuel duty cut twice until September and will continue to monitor the situation.”

Oil markets rose on Monday following renewed uncertainty surrounding fuel concerns, despite an extended ceasefire.

The price of Brent crude oil was up by 2.8% at $108 a barrel, making it 10% more expensive in a week.

Mr Jenrick said that there were not many examples of places in the UK where the wider economy was doing well.

Speaking at an event in central London, he said that since the start of Tony Blair's government, the country had been more "diminished".

In a speech that railed against immigration, broken public services and a stagnating economy, he said Britain had become "anaesthetised to our own poverty".

Speaking at the same event, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith announced a ban on union members getting paid time off to conduct union business.

The Tory frontbencher told attendees of the Centre for Policy Studies Margaret Thatcher Conference that a future Conservative government would "scrap mandatory paid time off for unions", which is paid for by business owners and taxpayers.

Mr Griffith added that businesses could choose to offer it themselves, but that a Tory government would no longer mandate it in law.

In the public sector, the Shadow Business Secretary said that "every penny of taxpayers’ money" would go toward "cutting waiting lists, helping children learn, fixing potholes and public services for taxpayers" rather than trade unions.