Petem95

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1e8936c4-29...00e2511c8.html

Another hurricane building up, and looking like it will hit the Gulf of Mexico

Looks like prices will be upto a quid a litre again pretty soon then....

davegtt

and who'll get the blame again?

wonder if they'll bother with another protest

Petem95

Levels of tax on fuel are far too high, so the government deserve to get some blame.

Interesting that apparently recent cuts in fuel prices have been encouraged by the government with a view of sneaking in a quick rise in duty

imlach

On what basis do you judge it is too high?

...and where did you read that? Any links? The government have recently scrapped a plan for a rise in duty in Sep/Oct this year.

davegtt

come again? so why are we not moaning now? we moan when its £1 a litre but we dont moan when its say 90p a litre? wheres the sense in that?!? the duty is still exactly the same as it was 5 years ago, doesnt matter what we pay per litre we're still paying a high rate of tax! Im not defending the government in the slightest I just dont understand why we have to pay £1 a litre before people will moan about duty?

twisted

imlach

...simply because they're bandwagon jumpers who don't understand anything whatsoever about the world economy, nor the cost of the commodity they fill their cars up with.

They're the sort of people who look to blame others WAY before looking at what they can do themselves to reduce their expenditure/consumption.

"Oh, petrol has gone up....I've read somewhere the tax is high. Must be the government's fault. Let's blame them".

suprabeast

because people will put up with things for so long, its the British way, but 1 pound a litre is quite a milestone where people think, hang on.. this is taking the ****. Then they jump on the bandwagon.. i'm surprised that the so called intelligence on this BBS can't figure that out

imlach

...the point is though is that the government has NOT INCREASED fuel duty for years, nor increased the VAT level.

Yet when the price hits £1/litre, everyone blames the government....yet all they're getting is a couple of pennies more per litre in VAT revenue...

Work it out and get back to me as to what is to blame for the increase

davegtt

But thats the funny thing, it'll go to £1 a litre, someone somewhere will do a mini protest etc, we get 4p knocked off (albeit from the pumps themselves) and all goes quiet again. it'll go up to £1.10 before anyone decides to say anything again.

suprabeast

its funny but its very true, people just dont notice the odd few pence here and there, its when a big number rolls over they are unhappy. Thats why everything is priced at *.99 cos people are stupid and will assume something is cheaper than it is cos £9.99 looks better than £10.00

imlach

I think you hit the nail on the head perfectly

Petem95

- Im sure most people understand the price of oil fluctuates, resulting in prices changing at the pumps, but when the price gets "too" high you cant reduce the cost of the crude oil, so people turn there attention to the amount of tax on the fuel - and this highlights the fact that taxation on fuel is absurd in this country.

Im sure you can quote (probably from memory) some blurb from the Labour manifestio about all the wonderfull ways Labour are spending this tax Imlach, but IMO taxation in this country is just way too high, and fuel tax is one of the biggest **** takes.

imlach

Yes, but in all of that, you still haven't told me in what respect it is too high. Just continual moaning with no justification/figures as far as I can see.

Why is it absurd?
Why is it a **** take?
What is it just way too high?

PS As I keep repeating, I've never voted Labour in my life.

Petem95

Theres a fixed amount of tax on the fuel, plus a PERCENTAGE (VAT). When you take a fixed percentage from a LARGER amount, you are taking MORE.

unclebuck

Nice spin attempt. You could out do Campbell on a good day.

All those "all they get is a couple of pennies" (ah, bless them) add up to Billions of pounds in windfall for which we will see no benefits whatsoever.

It's a clear case of New Labour taking full advantage of a bad situation rather than doing what a beneficent government should do, and ease the tax burden on it's population.

imlach

...but they don't seem to do they! The price rises of late have ALL been to do with crude prices, yet everyone is blaming the government.....

davegtt

As is with Alcohol and Cigarrettes, nobody moans about them though?

imlach

Agreed....but a few pennies. In comparison to the 20-30p the oil companies have benefited from.

davegtt

lol so you admit its only a couple of pennies, so what skin of your nose is it? so it adds up to Billions for the government, great, it can only make our country richer then (or less in debt which ever way you look at it )

imlach

The point is....knock those "few pennies" off, and you're still at 98p/litre.
Makes little odds, and once crude goes up another $10, you're at £1.08/litre still with those few pennies knocked off...

....yet I'll still be on here hearing all the moaners whinging

unclebuck

LOL - there he goes again - "och, it's only a few wee pennies..."

You sound more like Gordon Brown than Gordon Brown. I think you just enjoy seeing the English being beaten into the ground by your Scotts compatriot.

imlach

Scotts make Porage Oats. Scots is the term you're looking for

You're spinning it back and focussing too much on the few pennies, when the real issue is the extra 20 pennies the oil companies get off you

Dracoro

I see the roads packed with cars so where are these people that have stopped driving due to the costs? Hardly ANY. Why? because, although the cost is very expensive, it's not TOO expensive. Everyone seems to be able to soak up the costs so far.

It'll be £1.50 in a few years and people will STILL keep buying it. Why? because, ultimately they can afford it and will continue to afford it. When it get over £2 a litre then you might start to see a mass of people unable to afford to drive everywhere.

davegtt

Exactly, when people pay for it others will charge for it. simple really.

I think we'll see more and more economical cars on the road rather than performance vehicles to be honest. there'll be more and more performance cars on the road at the weekend and during the week silly little smart cars are what people will be using to keep being able ot afford running a motor

suprabeast

people swallow the cost because they have to... people have to travel to buy goods, to visit relatives/friends, to get to work... the trains are not a viable option which leaves nothing but the car

unclebuck

Don't think you would see a decrease in car usage overnight. More of a slow steady decline (which is of course what the green nutters want anyway) People are completely locked into a lifestyle which is car dependent and have no choice but to stump up the cash. It is another factor that will contribute to the coming recession though.

Bloke round the corner from me I noticed has got rid of his Forrester and bought a shiney new Corsa. I expect to see a lot more downsizing andd belt tightening over the coming months as the ecomony goes into decline.

imlach

Funny....why are the trains overcrowded in the South East then? Or the trains running into Edinburgh are overcrowded every morning?????

If they're not a viable option, surely they'd be empty

davegtt

Yet they still get in their gas guzzling X5/Impreza/anything else that drinks fuel, and complain. as we said before yes a car is a nessesity for some people, very understandable, but a performance car is a choice and a luxury.

imlach

Absolute piffle. Who are you talking about?

Plenty of people have no car, and plenty of people don't really NEED a car.
Where I live, I could survive without a car quite easily if I chose to do so. It'd make things that bit more troublesome, but not excessively so.

In many cases, the choice is clearly with the individual if they want to stump up the cash to run a car.

Never owned a car until I was 23. Seemed to survive before that......

suprabeast

right i went out for a meal with my aunt and uncle last saturday. 2 choices:

i could walk to the station, get a train to london, then a train from london to woking, then a bus to their house followed by a 10 minute walk to their house...

Cost for 3 people:

£10 each (each way)

Time taken - 1 hour to get to london, 30 mins to woking, 20 mins on bus, 10 mins walking.

Overall costs 60 quid takes 2 hours each way

OR get on the M25, spend a tenner on fuel there in 50 mins.....

Hardly viable is it