Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has returned with a brand new series of his hit ITV show promising a plethora of penny pinching tips in time for Christmas.

And minutes into the first episode of his new series, on ITV1 and ITVX on Tuesday night, Martin was asked by a worried driver if and when there may finally be some respite from the rapidly rising fuel costs currently squeezing Britain.

As of the time of writing, diesel costs are hovering around a £2 a litre average, while petrol is also significantly more expensive than it was at the start of 2026, currently priced at around 174.7p per litre on average, according to the RAC’s figures.

On the show, Martin was asked by a member of the audience: “Will the cost of fuel go down before or after Christmas?”

Martin then gave his verdict on the ‘impossible’ question, setting out that the answer lies in both the political choices set to be made by new Chancellor John Healey and in the global landscape.

He set out that he thinks the government is unlikely to raise fuel duty in the new year, as is currently scheduled, though stopped short of predicting an actual cut to the tax.

Martin told viewers: “In many ways that’s virtually impossible to answer. Fuel is made up really of two chunks, you’ve got just under half of it is tax, combined with fuel duty, and VAT, we’ve obviously got a Budget coming so that is in the Chancellor’s control if he wants to do it. It’s currently expected that the fuel duty will rise in January and March, I can’t see in this political environment him actually doing that. Whether he’ll bring it down or not is another matter.”

Martin then explained that the global price of crude oil determines the price at the pumps, and conflicts around the globe continue to push up the price at the pumps.

Diesel, in particular, has become more expensive and the gap to petrol prices has ‘widened’ because of the lack of diesel refineries in the UK.

Martin added: “The reason it’s widened: we have petrol refineries in the UK where we’re turning oil into petrol in very simple terms. We don’t have enough for diesel, there’s a problem with diesel, you’ll have heard President Trump talking about banning diesel exports, bringing diesel exports in, all this type of stuff going on. And that’s why the shortage of diesel is what’s widening the gap there.

“So you ask me will it come down. Well, one side is political, what does the Chancellor choose to do. There’s a Budget in a couple of weeks. The other side is, what’s gonna happen in the Middle East. If that de-escalates, then this will start to come down.

“There’s probably a little bit of a lag, this is about two months behind. If it doesn’t deescalate, it stays where it is now, well, then the price will probably stay high. And that’s as good as I can give you I’m afraid.”