UK petrol retailers claim ‘inflammatory language’ of ministers led to staff abuse

## Summary
Photograph: Nicholas Ansell/PA UK petrol retailers claim ‘inflammatory language’ of ministers led to staff abuse Trade body to attend Reeves meeting hours after saying it was pulling out over suggestions of ‘price gouging’ Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers ‘on notice’ over profiteering from Iran war Business live – latest updates UK politics live – latest updates The trade body for the UK’s petrol station industry has got into a row with the government after claiming the “inflammatory language” used by ministers to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff. The group raised the concerns in a statement, saying it had pulled out of a meeting with Rachel Reeves on Friday to discuss the rocketing price of fuel, blaming “incorrect and inflammatory” language from ministers. He added: “Our members are working hard in difficult circumstances making sure that motorists and businesses are getting the fuel they need at prices that are very competitive, on razor-thin or in some cases negative margins, which means they are losing money.” Miliband’s comments echoed earlier warnings this week from Reeves, who told MPs the government’s fuel finder service had discovered that some petrol stations were charging “almost 180p per litre while others were charging less than 130p per litre”. Reeves said: “I will be meeting with petrol retailers this week to raise concerns, to get prices down at the pumps.” The government has been contacted for comment.

## Article Content
Fuel prices have reached their highest level in 18 months, with a litre of petrol rising by an average of 7.8p to 140.6p and diesel by 16.8p to 159.18p.
Photograph: Nicholas Ansell/PA
View image in fullscreen
Fuel prices have reached their highest level in 18 months, with a litre of petrol rising by an average of 7.8p to 140.6p and diesel by 16.8p to 159.18p.
Photograph: Nicholas Ansell/PA
UK petrol retailers claim ‘inflammatory language’ of ministers led to staff abuse
Trade body to attend Reeves meeting hours after saying it was pulling out over suggestions of ‘price gouging’
Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers ‘on notice’ over profiteering from Iran war
Business live – latest updates
UK politics live – latest updates
The trade body for the UK’s petrol station industry has got into a row with the government after claiming the “inflammatory language” used by ministers to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff.
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said ministers had for several days suggested that forecourts might be “price gouging” and “ripping off” motorists as global oil markets have surged in response to
the war in Iran
.
The group raised the concerns in a statement, saying it had pulled out of a meeting with
Rachel Reeves
on Friday to discuss the rocketing price of fuel, blaming “incorrect and inflammatory” language from ministers.
However, within hours the PRA, which represents the owners of 65% of UK forecourts, rowed back on its stance and agreed to join the planned meeting at 11 Downing Street on Friday afternoon.
The chancellor was expected to meet industry leaders alongside Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, to tell them that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) was
on “high alert”
for any unjustifiable price rises at the pumps.
Fuel prices have risen at their fastest rate since 2022, reaching their highest level in 18 months on Friday, after the US and Israel began airstrikes on Iran almost two weeks ago. The surge in global oil market prices has caused petrol prices to increase by an average of 7.8p to 140.6p a litre, while diesel has risen by 16.8p to 159.18p.
Miliband told the BBC on Friday that the government would not tolerate profiteering from the conflict and said the CMA was primed to step in to stop “rip-offs”.
Gordon Balmer, the PRA’s executive director, said that “incorrect and inflammatory” language being used to describe the steady rise of pump prices this week had led to recent incidents of retail staff being abused by members of the public. Balmer said the abuse could have been “provoked” by use of the terms “rip-offs” and “profiteering”.
He added: “Our members are working hard in difficult circumstances making sure that motorists and businesses are getting the fuel they need at prices that are very competitive, on razor-thin or in some cases negative margins, which means they are losing money.”
Miliband’s comments echoed earlier warnings this week from Reeves, who told MPs the government’s fuel finder service had discovered that some petrol stations were charging “almost 180p per litre while others were charging less than 130p per litre”.
Reeves said: “I will be meeting with petrol retailers this week to raise concerns, to get prices down at the pumps.”
The government has been contacted for comment.
Explore more on these topics
Petrol prices
Retail industry
Rachel Reeves
Motoring
Oil
US-Israel war on Iran
news
Share
Reuse this content

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
N/A

### Areas for Consideration
- He added: “Our members are working hard in difficult circumstances making sure that motorists and businesses are getting the fuel they need at prices that are very competitive, on razor-thin or in some cases negative margins, which means they are losing money.” Miliband’s comments echoed earlier warnings this week from Reeves, who told MPs the government’s fuel finder service had discovered that some petrol stations were charging “almost 180p per litre while others were charging less than 130p per litre”.

### Implications
- Photograph: Nicholas Ansell/PA UK petrol retailers claim ‘inflammatory language’ of ministers led to staff abuse Trade body to attend Reeves meeting hours after saying it was pulling out over suggestions of ‘price gouging’ Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers ‘on notice’ over profiteering from Iran war Business live – latest updates UK politics live – latest updates The trade body for the UK’s petrol station industry has got into a row with the government after claiming the “inflammatory language” used by ministers to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff.
- The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said ministers had for several days suggested that forecourts might be “price gouging” and “ripping off” motorists as global oil markets have surged in response to the war in Iran .
- Balmer said the abuse could have been “provoked” by use of the terms “rip-offs” and “profiteering”.
- Reeves said: “I will be meeting with petrol retailers this week to raise concerns, to get prices down at the pumps.” The government has been contacted for comment.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers prices, petrol, fuel topics. Areas of concern are also raised. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 573.