THE Chancellor did his best to soften the blow of an increase in fuel duty but the planned 3p a litre rise will still go ahead in stages.

It will go up by 1p in April, with another 1p added in October and a final 1p in January.

Alistair Darling said that by phasing in the increase, the economy would have time to recover, especially with his target of getting inflation back under 2%.

The Chancellor said he would be writing to the Bank of England governor Mervyn King impressing on him the importance of keep......for the full story register now for free or login below...