Shoppers appeal to Chancellor to dish out some urgent help
"Reducing the price of fuel would be a good start as it's starting to really hit us in the pocket."
People across Wolverhampton have been reflecting on the ways the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak can help them as he prepares to make his Spring Statement on Wednesday.
The Spring Statement is essentially a "mini-Budget" by the Chancellor on the situation facing the economy and does not include the same tax and spending powers as a Budget.
However, the Chancellor's statement looks set to slash fuel duty, with a suggestion of as much as five pence a litre being cut to support families and businesses through the current cost of living crisis, as well as reportedly raising the threshold at which people start paying National Insurance.
For people living, working and studying in Wolverhampton, there was a feeling that the Chancellor should lower fuel prices and do what he can to help them save money on the cost of living.
Jennifer Robinson was out in the city on a day out with her husband Alan Nelson, and the 72-year-old from Lower Gornal said lowering the price of fuel would be a good start.
She said: "We're one of the most expensive countries for the price of petrol and it affects people like my son, who is self-employed. He has said how upset he is about the rise in petrol as he's struggling to pay for it.
"The cost of living is going up for us as well and I can't understand why the electrical and gas prices are jumping up like they are as it's going to increase to over £200 and that's my one-week pension."
Householders have said they feeling the pinch as well as business owners such as Simon Ramsbottom, who runs building firm R&A Ductwork Ltd in Dudley.
The 43-year-old said the Chancellor should dramatically drop the cost of fuel by more than was rumoured and lower other taxes.
He said: "Five pence a litre is about £2 on the tank, which is nothing, and I hear he's also planning to put up dividend tax, which is frustrating as I pay enough tax.
"Something needs to be done about the rises in food costs and the general costs of gas and electric as it's ludicrous to think it's doubled, as people's wages are tight enough.
"As a company director, I've just had to fight my way out of a pandemic, so facing a rise in taxes and cost of living is just not good."
The rise in costs for business owners was affecting people such as Alice Johnson, who owns hair salon Root 66 Hair Care in East Park, with the 21-year-old saying it was going to make it harder for her to make any money.
She said: "As everything is currently going up, it means that people are not spending as much on their hair as they are worried about meeting their electric bills and fuel costs.
"Lowering the fuel duty would be great because I think it would make people feel better in general, but everything is just becoming more expensive at the moment, particularly the products I use.
"I'm not massively worried right now, although I'm already on quite a high bracket of electricity at the moment and it's due to go up in April, so anything the Government can do to give some relief would be good right now."
Fuel was a topic on the mind of Farida Hussain from Wednesbury, with the 20-year-old saying she was taking more public transport because the price of fuel was getting too much for her.
She said: "The Chancellor needs to reduce the prices of petrol as it has a huge impact on everyone who drives, with £50 not even filling a tank these days, and it's just not economical for me at the moment.
"Things are OK at the moment, but I do worry about the struggle that's coming with the increases in electricity and gas, as prices are rising everywhere."
