Petrol!

[jen_uk]

Ive just seen on the news that the lorry drives have said unless the Govt does something about petrol prices they are going to start blocking the refineries again from next week. About time! I know it causes disruption but who can afford to pay these ridiculous prices now!

 

[FizzyPop]

The prices are getting silly now

I guess I had better make sure the car is full up ready for its ride to the airport.

 

[carolfoy]

I'd heard that it was planned from next wednesday, so fill up at the weekend at least! I must admit it is soooo ridiculous that we pay more than almost everyone else in the world, The US must be finding it tough as well as their prices have increased, not to the extent of ours mind but still..

 

[Clare D]

A petrol station here is charging £1.03 a litre for unleaded. There was an e-mail sent round saying that we should make a stand by boycotting the big players to make them start reducing their prices.

 

[carolfoy]

Yes Clare I had that email too, about boycotting bp and esso the two largest petrol stations and that would force their prices down thereby forcing jet tesco etc to reduce theirs too! great idea although in many smaller villages in the uk there is only one choice, (in our town there are 3 different suppliers and they have a price match agreement between them so no particular one is ever cheaper) It would work I think in many larger areas but most people choose their garage for convenience over any thing else

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

While I think the current prices are hard to bear if you are running a fleet of HGVs, I think it is important that the tax on fuel is taken into context with the overall level of taxation in the UK. For typical taxpayers, including the level of duty on fuel, we do a bit better than most countries especially those in Europe. Although I'd love to pay less tax on petrol (I live in London but my office is in Coventry, so I rack up a fair few miles!) I've yet to see a good argument from the fuel protesters about what taxes should increase to make up for a decrease in fuel tax.

 

[AlanUK]

Well said Rob

People seem to lose sight of the fact that it takes a certain amount of money to run the country and that if we lower taxes on one thing that it is inevitable they will have to rise on something else.

That said as fuel duty is a % tax on the underlying cost of the fuel it would seem sensible for the government to be able to put a cap on base amount whereby the duty will not be increased. At the moment the chancellor must be rubbing his hands together will glee as the black hole in the economy shrinks

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

That said as fuel duty is a % tax on the underlying cost of the fuel it would seem sensible for the government to be able to put a cap on base amount whereby the duty will not be increased. At the moment the chancellor must be rubbing his hands together will glee as the black hole in the economy shrinks

Isn't that sort of happening? The fuel tax escalator was introduced under the Tories (by Ken Clarke I think, when he was Chancellor) and Gordon Brown stuck with that until the underlying price of petrol got too high so he scrapped the tax escalator. This year and last year Brown delayed the budget increase in fuel tax (ie putting a cap on it, albeit temporarily).

 

[AlanUK]

Hmm yes looks like I was wrong I always though that duty was applied as a % of the underlying cost of the fuel rather than as a fixed amount. It appears following some research that this is not correct and that duty is a fixed amount per litre! (currently 47.10p for unleaded) So the government is making no more money from any price rises. Although VAT is a % and they might be getting a bit more this way!

Given this I find it hard to see how the governent can realistically be expected to lower the rate of duty on fuel.

Guess I will just have to dust off the old bicycle

 

[carolfoy]

Alanuk maybe you could put that new pram to some pre-baby use??

 

[SEVANS2208]

There was a bloke being interviewed at a petrol station who said he was happy that the price of petrol was going up because he was one of the few who could afford it and it would make the roads quieter so he could drive his car "properly" without other cars being in the way. Sad thing is, I think he was being serious. Prat.

 

[Frances999]

I agree that it is getting a little rediculous now. It costs me about £55 to fill up the tank. IMO the high fuel taxes do not match the poor quality of our highways system. Perhaps if the roads/motorways were a little better, the tax would be more justifiable.

 

[carolfoy]

True, Frances but then they wouldn't be able to spend all summer holidays digging up the main roads!

 

[rob@rar.org.uk]

I agree that it is getting a little rediculous now. It costs me about £55 to fill up the tank. IMO the high fuel taxes do not match the poor quality of our highways system. Perhaps if the roads/motorways were a little better, the tax would be more justifiable.

Unfortunately for those of us who drive a lot, fuel tax doesn't get earmarked specifically for roads or transport infrastructure. It just goes into the general taxation pot along with all other kinds of taxation. An increase (or a reducation) in fuel tax is just as likely to impact spending on health or education as it to affect road maintenance.

Regards

Rob

 

[Kernow_Clan]

Bring on the Flat Tax regime.......

 

[dazeddaisy]

Yes Clare I had that email too, about boycotting bp and esso the two largest petrol stations and that would force their prices down thereby forcing jet tesco etc to reduce theirs too!

Oil companies can manipulate their prices somewhat by controlling how much fuel they produce and where they sell it, but they can't alter the basics of supply and demand: prices go down when people buy less of an item, prices go up when people buy more of an item, and thus prices go way up when demand outstrips available supply.

The "gas out" schemes that propose to alter the demand side of the equation by shunning one or two specific brands of fuel for a while won't work. Because they're based on the misconception that an oil company's only outlet for fuel is its own branded service stations. That isn't the case: fuel is a fungible commodity, so if one oil company's product isn't being bought up in one particular market or outlet, it will simply sell its output to (or through) other outlets.

A boycott of a couple of brands of petrol won't result in lower overall prices. Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison. The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering fuel at its "normal" (i.e., pre-boycott) price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies, who will need the extra supply to meet demand. The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator, who has almost no control over the price of petrol.

The only practical way of reducing fuel prices is through the straightforward means of buying less petrol, not through a simple and painless scheme of just shifting where we buy it. The inconvenience of driving less is a hardship too many people apparently aren't willing to endure.


anyhow ....... so its been warm of late ......

 

[carolfoy]

I wasn't agreeing it should be done, just stating I'd received the email

 

[mickg7dyd]

Hi,
I saw in the paper recently that an "average" person in the UK pays 75p in the £ tax in form or another. I would have less of a problem with the amount of tax I pay, particularly on petrol, which living as I do in rural area is an essential commodity if I didn't witness such waste and incompetence from our elected officials at all levels. IMHO.

Mick.