Eric Chadwick

Tiggers, this smokescreen is exactly what those con men in the labour government want you to think. Compared to the amount of money going to the government the petrol company makes very little (from what I can remember about 15p a litre), the petrol station makes maybe 2p a litre. The price of crude oil has gone up recently so this is why the petrol prices have gone up. The govt took advantage of the crude price falling in the last few years and kept on whacking up the tax hoping we wouldn't notice. It is wrong to blame bp-amoco or any of the other oil companies for the current petrol price situation.

If possible please do not buy petrol on the 1st of august and help the arrogant government get the message that the motorist has been picked on enough. It is not supposed to DO anything it is just supposed to be a noticeable show of feeling.

And don't get me started on their speed kills propaganda which is an idiotic and oversimplistic attitude to road safety without addressing any of the real causes of accidents. Fools.

tiggers

I have heard mentioned several times that there is a proposed boycott of petrol stations on August 1st. This will not work as obviously the apathy of the British public combined with the fact that people will just fill up the day before will ensure all carries on as normal.

Now working on the fact that I believe the governament has only raised the tax on petrol at the budget and therefore some of the hike in price must be down to the oil companies themselves how about this for an idea.

Instead of a one day boycott we single out one oil company for a permanent boycott until the prices are reduced. My vote would go for BP who have today announced a facelift operation that is going to cost millions (made partly from the poor beleagured motorist I might add). This would obviously need some serious co-ordination, but if it happened both the oil companies and the government would have to act.

Anyone any ideas how to get this off the ground - well I can dream can't I?

Regards,

tiggers

Ian Cook

Out of every £20 you put in £16 is tax ! Its not the petrol companies screwing us !!

tiggers

Yes I am aware of the tax situation, but being as the governemnt rely on the support of big business such as the oil companies they'd have to listen too. A total boycott cannot ever work for reasons even too obvious for me to detail here, but this just might.

As a slight asside can anyone tell me who has been responsible for the price hike over the past 12 months - it can't all be new tax can it?

Regards,

tiggers

Mr.Cookie

The reason to single day boycott the pumps is not to cost anybody loss of earnings which as you i cannot see also, but to get our little dictators aware that we the british public will no longer stand for this ridiculous money making scam.

Cheers
Simon

Toby C

I think that a certain newpaper is also backing the idea off not buying petrol on 1st August AND any Monday's after. But please don't quote me!!

tiggers

Eric,

The boycott on the 1st August will make no difference whatsoever for the reasons I have mentioned above. What is needed is a longer term action along the lines I have suggested. Even if you subscribe to the view that the oil companies are entirely blameless the action I mention would cause them to approach the government who would be forced to act as they cannot afford to upset big business (for it is them who really rule our land - heavy stuff this).

On the subject of the government, oil companies, tax etc. once again I ask someone to explain to me how the price has risen so dramatically over the last 12 months. I appreciate that the government whacks large tax increases on at each budget, but do they increase it at other intervals as well or is something else going on. I'm not standing up for them (far from it), but I just don't understand how the price has risen so often recently when I thought they only increased the tax once a year.

One other thing - please don't start a Labour vs Conservative argument on this post as if you recall the Tories weren't adverse to horrendous tax increase on fuel either.

Regards,

tiggers

Yex

When this subject was orignally broached on the BBS I visited the boycott the pumps website (www.boycottthepumps.co.uk from memory).
A few people came up with the idea to not buy petrol from one manufacturer for a period of one week and then move onto another...keep going until back to the original sufferer. This would have hopefully mucked up their delivery schedules and cash flow to a degree where they would have been forced to approach the Government to remedy the situation.
When I posted this idea on the BBS of the boycott the pumps website I was blasted for targetting one company alone Nobody took onboard the idea that by refusing to buy from one supplier at a time you WILL affect their business and the voice of "the man in the street" (US on the BBS for one) would be heard loud and clear. Since the original publicity the idea seems to have died off which is exactly what the Government and fuel companies want.
I am not alone in wanting fuel prices to fall as I believe this is an unfair way of taxing us without Labour breaking it's key election promise not to raise personal taxes. As they have broken all other manifesto issues, and got away with it on the whole, this is one that will either make or break them....the choice belongs to the motorist. If a body gets together to try and make it cheaper to run your car then support them.

Yex - off of soapbox now

DavidRB

Yex, you're absolutely right. The way to make them really notice is to boycott one company for a week, then boycott another one the next one. Cycle through the big ones, BP, Shell, Esso, Texaco. That would make them really sit up and notice as it would mean a real loss of cash, rather than just a spike and a dip in their figures.

One reason no-one noticed the tax hikes is that they are no longer quoted in pence-per-gallon but pence-per-litre, so what sounds like a relatively trivial increase is actually 4 1/2 times what you expect it to be!!!

What is grossly unfair is that aviation fuel is completely tax free, yet aeroplanes do a lot more damage than people think to the atmosphere and the ozone layer because they dump their exhaust gases so high up.

Cars are not the big polluters that we are told to believe they are. For example, the biggest increases in childhood asthma are in East Anglia, hardly the traffic chaos centre of England.

robski

I will be doing this, and the guys in the office are as well. We need national coverage in something like the sun, to help support the campaign.

The problem with the boycott 1 garage idea is that a lot of people use 97, and that is a lot more limited in distribution.

robski

Triggaaar

A lot of people on this bb don't believe that one day boycotts will work.

I disagree - they will show the government that the public are fed up witht he level of tax - the tory boys will use this to show how unpopular the govt are - it could become a vote winning issue. The change in cash flow could affect oil companies, which will encourage them to put pressure on the govt.

I agree that specific company boycotts will be better, but one thing is for sure, tax won't go down if we do nothing, so even if you think it won't work, do it - what have you got to lose?

tiggers

Yex my friend, I am sorry as I did not realise that this subject had already been broached and I thought I'd had a good idea for once - well there you go.

Anyway I think the general message is that we've got to do something as otherwise we'll all be skint.

Maybe I should just start using the bus.

Eh!

Regards,

tiggers.

Yex

Wayhey, Ive got another friend...and I will love and cherish him for ever - b****y h**l someone get me some more tablets

Seriously though, the more any subject like this is discussed the more people will become aware of it. Eventually something must happen but perhaps even The Sun (t**s and all) is scared of the legal consequences of backing the one supplier a week boycott.

Yex

Jay m A

iTrader: (2)

If we all stopped using our cars and got the bus/train instead (which apparently is what the government wants) then nobody would be buying petrol, then the government would'nt be getting any revenue (which is what they don't want).
oh dear, I'm all confused. Then if no petrol is being sold, does the supply and demand rule say that petrol prices will then go up?
If we all get on the train, will there be a train tax? Those busses, don't use them - dirty DERV things, tax them! tax! tax! tax them all.

It'll be tax on air in cycles next, mark my words.

Justin

Josh L

It's an abmirable intention to get people out of their cars and onto public transport....Only there isn't any. Well nothing worth mentioning, and certainly nothing that is either convenient or even vaguely cost-effective. Not to mention the polution caused by buses.

All this Government has done is take, take, take. And what are they going to do with the residue of the £30 BILLION + they take off us each year? Give it back to us, to show what jolly decent fellows they are, so we can vote them back in! The damage they have done to business is, in some cases, irrepairable. And another of their we'll give you 1p if you give us 9p budgets will make life even worse.

Someone has to make it clear that we are fed up with being craped from a great height. Whether or not any kind of boycott will have the desired effect in debatable, but it is important that they begin to realise just how many people are being crippled by their 'Stealth Taxes', and consequently how many fewer votes they are likely to receive.

If they get in again, in which case they will get rid of the pound, they can probably hide further increases within the Euro per litre price!

Since I freelance for the Sun I, for one, will make sure I submit a few pix showing deserted forecourts. A few shots like that in the nationals should gain some attention.

Before anybody makes any suggestions as to my political bias, I don't care who they are, they're doing a fu**ing bad job!

Josh

GCollier

A couple of comments, to add fuel (no pun intended) to this fire.....

If tax on petrol was cut, then it would be countered by raising tax elsewhere, so on average people would be paying the same amount of tax. Yes, you can argue that motorists are paying a disproportionate amount of tax, but then can't high earners paying lots of income tax argue the same thing? What's the difference?

If everyone who's moaning on this thread _really_ cared so much about their fuel bill, they wouldn't be driving impreza turbos.

The rate of car tax in this country is less than others in Europe, both on the purchase price and on road tax. I only know The Netherlands as a direct example but both these taxes are substantially higher. It could be argued that a higher tax on fuel is fairer, because it taxes in proportion to use.

Crude oil is a finite resource, and cars cause a considerable amount of polution. Raising taxes on fuel could be argued as a good thing if it helps to reduce car use.

Richard F

johnfelstead

it was my idea to target individual companies on a rotor basis.

Its the only way i can think of that would apply real presure by forcing the oil companies to do it for us.

Public transport is not an option for most people, it would add 2 hours/day to my working day getting to/from work and i live in a large city, god help the people out in the sticks.

That 2 hours is based on all services running on time, fat chance of that these days!

Josh L

GCollier makes some very valid points. However, I personally feel that there are a few flaws in his reasoning.

One reason they keep screwing the driver is because they were stupid enough to make a blanket 'No increase in Taxes' statement.

It would be a great deal fairer if they just put 1-2p on income tax because, at least the cost would be related to our income and ability to pay. After all, at the end of the day, they aren't spending the money on roads or public transport. They are using the money to cover their crap money-managment elsewhere, and to spend on incentives to buy our votes. They say that if the fuel duty is cut, they will have to cut spending on hospitals. Why is it they never cut the spending on the spin doctors, beurocracy, polling gurus and minister junkets? It's always the hospitals, home help, road sweepers etc

If the tax on fuel were to be spent on the roads and car tax abolished, that again would be fairer, but it's not. Of the £35 billion pounds they raise from drivers each year, only about £6 billion is spent on the roads etc. How do you think they aquired their £43 billion election 'war chest'

Other than getting a few people of the roads, how can it benefit the country when people are now having to give up their jobs because they can no longer afford the petrol to get to work?

adamson

I believe Tony Bliar actually said that he would not increase Income Tax for the life of the parliament. He did NOT say he would not increase tax generally.

However, I believe the electorate were lulled into a sale sense of security by this. They actually thought he meant no tax rises period. I know I did.

Check out this link (to the Tory Party website) - It makes interesting reading.