John Healey to Suspend Import Taxes on Marmalade, Gherkins and More

What changed

John Healey will suspend import taxes on marmalade, gherkins and more than 100 other products before the Budget. The package also changes carer’s allowance, makes mileage tax relief permanent, gives self-employed fathers two weeks of paternity pay and adds Post Office drop boxes.

Why it matters

The headline promise is small but concrete: marmalade’s 20% tariff and an additional £19-per-100kg charge will be suspended. Alongside existing tariff suspensions on pasta, fruit juice and tuna, the government estimates households could save up to £21 a year.

That saving is not guaranteed to appear fully at the till. The measures’ start date and the share passed on by retailers have not been confirmed. Still, the package reaches beyond groceries.

Carers would no longer lose their entire allowance after crossing the earnings limit; support would taper instead. Workers driving up to 10,000 miles for their jobs would keep a 55p-per-mile tax-free rate, with the rate above that distance rising from 25p to 35p. Self-employed fathers, previously excluded from paternity payments of up to £194 a week, would receive two weeks.

The government is also promising help linked to higher fertiliser costs and heating oil, though the announcement does not quantify those effects. Its political test is straightforward: whether these everyday changes feel like real relief before the Budget, rather than a jar of marmalade with a very large label.