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Fuel duty post: cite the official figure from OBR Table 1.1, uncertified (and 'exceeds' style fixes) - #1475

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MaxGhenis merged 4 commits into
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fuel-duty-official-figure-table-1-1
Oct 28, 2026
Merged

MaxGhenis merged 4 commits into
mainfrom
fuel-duty-official-figure-table-1-1

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@MaxGhenis

@MaxGhenis MaxGhenis commented Oct 28, 2026 •

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Changes how the live fuel duty post (fuel-duty-cut-extension, merged in #1459) describes and cites the official figure. Max's rule from today: always cite primary sources. Every official comparison now uses the OBR's detailed policy table, Table 1.1, with Budget Table 6.1 as context.

Do not merge without Max's yes. It changes a live post.

What changes

  • Figures. The official figure is now Table 1.1's line for the measure: −£574m in 2026-27 and −£782m in 2027-28 (−573.83 and −781.75, its only line, Fuel Duty). Table 6.1's −£575m and −£780m are its rounding, and the post gives them as context under the cost table. The sheet's Fuel Duty head total (−632.00 and −810.58) adds the red diesel measure, so it is not used.
  • Certification. Fuel duty is the one Budget measure the OBR did not certify. EFO October 2026, chapter 3, footnote 1: "we could not certify the final version of the relevant costing but have used the Government's estimates in this forecast and will finalise the certification for our next forecast". The post now says so in the key figures and in the comparison appendix, and calls the figure "the government's estimate".
  • Wording. "HM Treasury (Table 6.1)" becomes "Government estimate (OBR Table 1.1)". "The Treasury's costing", where it means the figure, becomes "the government's estimate". Mentions of HM Treasury's policy costings document stay as they are.

What doesn't change

PolicyEngine's figures (−£301m and −£521m), the households, the charts and every other section. Apart from the style lines below, the diff is in the fuel duty post only.

Merged with Pavel's #1476 (main merged in at b44f105, no rebase)

  • Line 9 conflicted. Cite primary sources in the fuel duty and PTA posts #1476 kept HM Treasury's £575m/£780m and linked the Table 6.1 spreadsheet; this PR's Table 1.1 text replaces that sentence.
  • Pavel's Table 6.1 spreadsheet link now sits on the note under the cost table, where this PR names Table 6.1. His policy costings link to AB26_Policy_Costing.pdf (line 16) is unchanged.

Style: "is above" becomes "exceeds" (957cc2a)

Max's style rule; prepositional uses of "above" stay. Style only, no figures changed:

Checked

  • The values on policy.xlsx sheet 1.1, measure 3, row 17, as read by the coordinator at Create Supporters page #300 555e7f74. My own earlier read of Table 1.1 agrees: −573.8 and −781.8.
  • The footnote's text and location in the EFO (chapter 3, "Policy measures", footnote 1), and the foreword's matching sentence.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

The official figure is now the OBR's policy Table 1.1 line (−£574m and
−£782m), with Table 6.1's rounded −£575m and −£780m given as context.
The post also says the OBR used the government's estimate but could not
certify it (EFO October 2026, chapter 3, footnote 1). Nothing else in the
post changes.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
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Request Review

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
@MaxGhenis

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Independent review (GPT-6.1 Sol, two rounds): APPROVE at 44bd041.

  • Round 1 (at cd0a8f9) checked the figures against OBR policy Table 1.1, sheet 1.1, cells G17:J17: −573.832335 and −781.754076, Fuel Duty receipts only, with no VAT line. Those round to −£574m and −£782m, and to −£575m and −£780m at £5m. It also confirmed chapter 3, footnote 1 of the EFO as the citation for the OBR not certifying the estimate, with the foreword in agreement. It asked for two more sentences to stop crediting the estimate to the Treasury: fiscal years (line 510) and receipts (line 532).
  • Round 2 (at 44bd041) found both fixed exactly and nothing new introduced. Every numerical comparison now names the government's estimate. The remaining Treasury mentions are about its policy costings document.

Not for merging without Max's yes: this changes a live post.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Brings in Pavel Makarchuk's primary-source links from #1476 (d1f01b9)
and keeps both:
- the policy costings link to AB26_Policy_Costing.pdf (line 16), which
  merges unchanged;
- the Table 6.1 spreadsheet link, which now sits on the note under the
  cost table, where this PR names Table 6.1.

Line 9 conflicted: #1476 kept HM Treasury's £575m/£780m from Table 6.1,
and this PR cites the OBR policy Table 1.1 figure (£574m/£782m) as the
government's estimate, which the OBR used but could not certify. Resolved
to the Table 1.1 text, as the coordinator relayed. Nothing else from
#1476 changes. Its PTA post edits are not touched here.

Co-Authored-By: Pavel Makarchuk <PavelMakarchuk@users.noreply.github.com>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Max's style rule: 'is above' becomes 'exceeds'; prepositional uses of
'above' stay. Three lines: the fuel duty post's Pension Credit guarantee
and diesel price sentences, and the PTA post's CPI sentence (from #1476).
Style only; no figures change.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
@MaxGhenis MaxGhenis changed the title Fuel duty post: cite the official figure from OBR Table 1.1, uncertified Fuel duty post: cite the official figure from OBR Table 1.1, uncertified (and 'exceeds' style fixes) Oct 28, 2026
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Re-review at 957cc2a (main merged in at b44f105, then the "exceeds" style commit): approve, no findings. Reviewer: an independent Opus 5.5 agent, since the Codex lanes were closed. It reviewed the delta from 44bd041, which Sol approved in round 2.

Merge with #1476 (b44f105)

Style commit (957cc2a)

  • This is a wording change only. Fuel post line 516 now reads "Their income exceeds the Pension Credit guarantee", line 518 "when diesel exceeded £2 a litre" (keeping the past tense), and PTA post line 994 "which exceeds September 2026 CPI inflation of 3.5%". No figure, link or meaning changes.
  • No "is/are/was/were above" is left in either post. The remaining uses of "above" are prepositional and stay. Line 994 is the only change to pension-tax-allowance.md against main.

Gates at 957cc2a: gh pr checks exits 0 (all 10 pass), and the PR is MERGEABLE. It is blocked only on the required review.

This PR changes a live post, so it waits for Max's go.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

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Merging on Max's go ("Pavel's first, then ours"), after #1476 merged. Admin merge at head 957cc2a684a25652e437c3dbc737f9ede5e6abaf, because the only remaining block is the required approving review, which Max can't give on his own PR.

Gates at this head:

  • gh pr checks exits 0 (10/10 pass).
  • mergeable is MERGEABLE; the PR is not a draft and has no CHANGES_REQUESTED review.

Reviews:

Content:

  • The fuel duty cost table compares with the government's estimate in OBR Table 1.1 (−£574 million and −£782 million). The note under it gives Table 6.1's rounded −£575 million and −£780 million.
  • Pavel's Cite primary sources in the fuel duty and PTA posts #1476 links are kept.
  • The style commit applies Max's "exceeds" rule with no figure changes (fuel lines 516 and 518, PTA line 994).

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

@MaxGhenis
MaxGhenis merged commit fd087d5 into main Oct 28, 2026
10 checks passed
@MaxGhenis
MaxGhenis deleted the fuel-duty-official-figure-table-1-1 branch October 28, 2026 21:40

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