Petrol prices hit record high Brian Madderson, the head of RMI petrol, representing 6,000 independent forecourts predicted a miserable summer for motorists. I can see diesel approaching 150 pence a litre by Easter and unleaded costing around 142 pence. He said a combination of political instability and the ongoing uncertainty about the future of the Coryton refinery in Essex spelt bad news for the country's drivers. There is no end in sight to the dispute with Iran and that is being passed on to the market and the EU embargo is supposed to come into force in the summer. Coryton only has breathing space for three months Paul Watters of the AA was equally pessimistic. "The oil markets have been really nervous and the price went up by $3 a barrel over reports of a pipeline fire," said Paul Watters of the AA. If they can go up by that much for something which didn't happen, heaven knows what would happen if things deteriorate in the Middle East. What makes things even worse is that motorists never get any respite now. Only a couple of years ago it would take up to six weeks for higher oil prices to be felt at the pump. Now things move much faster and forecourts seem to be reacting very quickly to events as well. Just to add to our misery, there is a shortage of refining capacity and that is pushing prices up as well. Labour called for VAT to be cut to ease the pain faced by motorists. "These record petrol prices come at a time when hard-pressed families are already being hit hard by tax rises and spending cuts that go too far and too fast," said Cathy Jamieson, a Treasury spokesman. We need to see urgent action from George Osborne in the Budget to ease the squeeze and boost jobs and growth. A temporary cut in VAT, part of Labour's five point plan for jobs, would give immediate relief to hard-pressed motorists by taking 3p off the price of a litre of petrol and help jump-start our stalled economy too. The RAC, meanwhile, said 21 million British households were in transport poverty, spending more than 10 per cent of their income on routine travel.