Chancellor Healey Scraps Tariffs on Marmalade, Gherkins in Pre-Budget Package

Chancellor John Healey will strip import tariffs from marmalade, gherkins and more than 100 other products at Wednesday's Budget, a move the government says could save households up to £21 per year.

That £21 figure is the headline number of a pre-Budget package Healey is billing as a series of "everyday fixes" designed to give families "breathing space" on cost-of-living pressures. The savings combine the new tariff removals with existing suspensions already covering pasta, fruit juice and tuna.

The marmalade case shows how the mechanics work. A 20% tariff, plus an additional £19 charge per 100kg imported, will be suspended. Multiply that across a basket of more than 100 "family favourite" products and the government arrives at its per-household estimate — roughly the price of a couple of jars a year, but framed as part of a broader squeeze-relief strategy.

Healey tied the measures to global instability. The ongoing wars in Iran and Ukraine, he said, had "hit families here at home through higher everyday costs".

"We can't control global events, but we can act where we can make a difference," he added.

What else is in the package?

Beyond tariffs, the government announced four further measures:

• A permanent 55p per mile tax-free mileage rate for those driving up to 10,000 miles for work, with the rate above that threshold rising from 25p to 35p per mile
• An end to the so-called carer's allowance cliff-edge, replacing the system that saw carers lose their entire allowance on exceeding the earnings limit with a taper mechanism
• Two weeks of paternity pay for self-employed fathers, who previously missed out on payments worth up to £194 a week
• Hundreds of additional Post Office drop boxes to make sending parcels easier

The government also said it would support farmers facing higher fertiliser costs and households reliant on heating oil.

What does this change for households and workers?

For mileage-rate drivers — the nurse doing community visits, the sales rep on the road — the change locks in 55p per mile as a permanent feature rather than a temporary relief, giving certainty for tax planning. Self-employed new fathers gain a entitlement worth up to £388 across two weeks that simply didn't exist for them before. Carers, meanwhile, can now pick up extra shifts without the risk of a sudden total loss of allowance.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham framed the package as complements to, not substitutes for, larger reforms.

"We are taking on the big challenges facing the country. But that doesn't mean losing sight of the everyday problems that cost people money or simply aren't fair," Burnham said.

"If you're a nurse driving for work, a parent spending those precious first weeks with your new baby, or an unpaid carer picking up an extra shift, these changes will make life a little easier and put more money back in your pocket."

The opposition's response

The Conservatives went on the attack before the Budget statement landed. Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith argued the offer of "cheaper gherkins" trivialises the pressure on household finances.

"Shoppers face rising costs at the till and families are struggling to make ends meet, but Burnham's plan is cheaper gherkins. This is an insult to families hammered by Labour's tax rises," Griffith said.

The Conservative Party also claimed Burnham's "everyday fixes" have already been wiped out by higher borrowing costs, taxes and inflation.

The political stakes are clear. Healey's Budget arrives amid what the government itself describes as "gathering clouds" over the economy, and the £21 tariff saving — modest against a household's annual outlay — will be judged against the broader fiscal picture. Watch Wednesday's statement for whether the larger measures outweigh the optics of cheaper preserves.