brihoppy

optimax...M1 today...101.9 per litre...nuff said...!!! (am i slow on the uptake on this...just logged on after 3 days...?)

Ben WRX Bug-Eye

Blame New Labour. They could solve the problem. Over 80% is tax.

imlach

At 101.9p, it's only 62% tax.

Ben WRX Bug-Eye

I stand corrected. But you've already been taxed on your income that you then use to buy the fuel - so when all is considered its still way too bloody much!

brihoppy

feel free to descend into a free-for-all slagging of the government about fuel taxation (i want 5 mins in a locked room with blair)...thats not a thread i was starting, i was just flabbergasted at the price...most expensive petrol ive ever seen, but i notice it has been covered in another thread...

imlach

Yes, and crude oil is at record breaking prices. Strangely enough, the price of petrol is linked to the price of crude. In all of this, fuel duty has not increased AT ALL. Have your 5 mins in the room if you like, but you'd be speaking to the wrong person.

brihoppy

believe me, i want my 5 mins with him for more than fuel taxation, and there wouldnt be much talking going on...

imlach

OK, so how would you run the country? C'mon...let's have your solutions.

Ben WRX Bug-Eye

I could spend a life time 'working things out' with Blair in a locked room. Apparently he's obsessed with his place in history. Tony Blair - the man who single handedly brought a once proud nation to its knees.

dpb

20p on a pack o **** ...

imlach

Sorry, a decade ago, everyone said that about Thatcher.
Name me a politician or prime minister of ANY country in history that everyone REALLY liked.........

dexter

I must admit, I was also dismayed today, when filling mine up with Optimax, and noticing that it is now just over £1 per litre.

I would openly admit that I am not that well up on the workings of the current economic climate, so could anyone (seriously) explain why the Government can`t, with the high price of oil, show a little leniency for a change, and actually decrease the duty we pay on our petrol, at least whilst the current situation of expensive crude oil remains.

Ben WRX Bug-Eye

Winston Churchill.

imlach

Because the goverment would then face a budget deficit which would have to be plugged elsewhere. There's also no real end in sight to the high crude oil prices right now either. Better get used to it.

You could, of course, simply use less. Simple ideas are always the best aren't they.

dexter

Thanks for that imlach. It`s a bit clearer now.


Ah, but then I`d have to bury my right foot a bit less, and some things in life just cannot be sacrificed.

Oh well, as you said, I`d better get used to it...........................

ajm

and the government could stop squandering money. Simple ideas are always the best!

imlach

They could but that relies on someone else doing something. If you want to reduce YOUR expenditure out of YOUR pocket, you know what you have to do.

PALATINE

So I guess your chopping in the scoob for a Hybrid Prius?

DPat

Sorry, but VAT is a fixed %age and has therefore gone up

Brown will slip out how much extra he is making in the coming months to balance his farcical cycle!

Ralph Wiggum

alot of people forget what he did to the irish,

the only politician i can think of in recent times that everyone like well most anyway is bill clinton, even after the scandal didn't lower rating

brihoppy

i can understand the difficulties anyone who takes on the very highest office in the nation will face...one thing i certainly wouldnt do if i were in that position is be smarmy, patronising, condescending, weak-willed and constantly fly in the face of public opinion...

people like blair, as has been stated in this thread already are obsessed with their place in history and not in the good of the country...all he honestly cares about is his own political agenda and ideals, and how much he can make on the after dinner circuit or as a company director once his term is up...IMO, this is what most senior politicians are like, and not one of them genuinely gives a toss about 99% of the population...

imlach

Well, why don't you stand as an MP and make a difference? If 99% of people agree with you, you'll be in power in no time........

..or perhaps it's not that easy to be popular.

brihoppy

obviously youre a labour supporter/fan of blair, thats your choice, and im not going to get into an arguement about whether id do a better job as i have no experience whatsoever in politics...

however, i dont have to be an expert, and neither does anyone else, to see that the man has no concern or regard for the country as a whole...and like him or not, if you cant see that he is patronising and smarmy, then hes got you as hoodwinked as the rest of his supporters...

mattvortex

Well said-totally agree with that!

eldudereno

What a load of bollocks, it's totally irrelevant who the PM is, not one of them would do anything to bring down the price of petrol!!!!!!!!!

imlach

I've never voted Labour in my life. My stance here & opinions are all apolitical.
10 years ago, a large proportion hated Thatcher and wanted Labour in power. Now Labour is in power, a large proportion hates it....

Some of you just don't know what you want to be frank!

brihoppy

quite honestly you may be right...ill tell you what i dont want though, and that is to be constantly lied to and patronised...i dont know if well ever have a leader like that in this country, but it doesnt stop us wishing does it...?!

imlach

..but in the end, even if you aren't lied to or patronised, taxation will still be similar...so your only gripe is the personality?

brihoppy

i started this thread with a simple observation, and it was slightly hijacked...as i said i have no political experience so i dont have the magic answers, but as were on the topic and amongst many other things, i simply do not believe that there is no way that the govt cant cut the duty on petrol, alcohol, tobacco, etc...i am aware though that these shortfalls will have to be made up elsewhere...

the fact is i just cannot and will not believe that this is the only way...

imlach

...which is really the root of the problem. There are NO magic answers to this. Of course there is no harm trying to look at things from a different angle.

At the end of the day though, there are two certainties in life, one is tax, and the other is death.