Rachel Reeves hit back at a heckler who repeatedly shouted at her while she tried to answer questions from the media after announcing a planned increase in fuel duty would be scrapped to help consumers.
The Chancellor was interrupted by a man driving a truck with two St George’s flags on the roof while she gave a broadcast interview at a petrol station in Leeds on Wednesday.
The heckler appeared to be a Reform UK supporter as he said “Nigel Farage, go on Nigel”, before telling her: “You’re ruining the country. Get Keir Starmer out.”
As he left the station he said out of the window: “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.”
Ms Reeves then told him: “I love our country. I love our country, and one of the things about our country is good manners. Not very British.”
Responding on social media to a clip of the exchange, Reform leader Mr Farage wrote: “I’d like to buy this man a pint. Does anyone know how I can find him?”
It comes amid ongoing uncertainty over the future of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership and unrest within Labour following the party’s heavy losses at the local and devolved elections earlier this month.
The Prime Minister has sought to carry on with business as usual, announcing on Wednesday the 5p per litre fuel duty cut introduced by the Conservative government in March 2022 would be extended for the rest of the year.
That means the rate will remain nearly 53p per litre.
Rates were previously planned to increase by 1p per litre on September 1, with a pair of 2p per litre rises on December 1 this year and March 1 next year.
Iran’s restrictions on tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz means the average price of a litre of petrol and diesel at UK forecourts is 26p and 44p respectively more expensive than before the conflict started on February 28.
Ms Reeves said: “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.”
