Hauliers were outraged today by Alistair Darling’s decision to increase fuel duty to offset a 2.5 percentage-point cut in VAT.

Mr Darling added 2p a litre to fuel duty, which at today’s prices more than offsets the reduction in VAT.

But hauliers complained that, since they can reclaim VAT, the increase in duty will further erode their ability to compete with overseas companies. Motorist bodies also said the move was “giving with one hand and taking away with the other”.

In July, amid soaring oil prices, the Chancellor postponed a 2p increase in fuel duty after lorry drivers protested by clogging arterial routes with processions of slow-moving vehicles. Today’s move enraged the organisers of the protest.

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The Road Haulage Association, an industry body, accused Mr Darling of failing to understand they would be fully exposed to the increase in duty, because they are not liable for VAT.

Andy Boyle, chairman of the RHA, said: “I am absolutely livid at this announcement. If things were not bad enough, it now seems that we have a Chancellor who does not understand his own tax system.”

The RHA argue the move will cripple the road transport industry which is the “lifeblood of the UK economy”.

Peter Carroll, a spokesman for TransAction 2007, the haulage group that organised this summer’s “go-slow” that helped bring traffic to a halt, did not rule out future protests.

He said: “We were on the streets of London, outside Parliament, complaining the differential [on fuel prices] with Europe was slaughtering the industry in the summer, and now Mr Darling has slipped in an increase that makes it even worse. It’s criminal on the cusp of a recession.”

But he added that recent falls in the price of oil, which has fallen from a summer peak of $147 (£98) a barrel to around $50, would reduce public support for protests.

The AA, Britain’s largest motorists’ group, said Mr Darling was gambling on fuel prices. Edmund King, AA president, said: “By increasing fuel duty whilst reducing VAT shows that the Chancellor is playing roulette with global fuel prices and could lose his gamble. It is a very big gamble as there are 32 million motorists out there and most of them have a vote. If the global price of oil increases this hike may come back to haunt the government.”

At current prices, the changes in fuel duty will see an additional 0.5p per litre go to the Treasury, despite Mr Darling implying alterations were revenue neutral for motorists.

Environmental groups welcomed the increase in fuel duty.

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