ESTHER McVey is urging the Chancellor to announce measures to support businesses and hard-working families hit by the pandemic in next Wednesday’s Budget.

The Conservative MP for Tatton is calling on Rishi Sunak to scrap any plans to increase fuel duty, claiming that hiking prices at the pumps would be a slap in the face after such a tough year.

Ms McVey is pointing to research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which suggested a fuel duty increase of 2p would ‘cut GDP by £600million, reduce employment by 8,000 jobs and add 0.6 per cent to inflation’.

She said: “People and businesses rely on vehicles and any increase would hit them hard, especially at this extremely difficult time.

“It makes no sense to increase costs and research has shown that cutting fuel duty creates jobs, stimulates GDP, and helps lower inflation.

“At this time, we need to do everything we can to support hardworking people and businesses get back on their feet as the country reopens, not be hitting them with extra costs.”

Meanwhile, Ms McVey is also calling on the Chancellor to freeze business rates for another 12 months, to help struggling firms get back on their feet.

She hopes the move will be announced in the Budget and believes it would offer a lifeline to businesses and help protect jobs.

She said: “Extending business rate relief for a further year is the right thing to do and could be the difference between surviving or going under.

“Not having to worry about finding thousands of pounds in rates has been a lifeline to many businesses in the pandemic but we are fast approaching the new financial year, which means rate relief will end.

“We are still in the midst of the pandemic and are forcing businesses to keep their doors closed so it is wrong to charge them rates, when so many are only just keeping their head above water.”

Ms McVey is also calling for a cut in beer duty to help breweries, along with extending the cut in VAT on food and soft drink, to help support pubs ‘at the heart of communities’.