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With the incessant rise in the price of diesel and petrol and the haulage industry being stretched by it how long before protests start ? I reckon in the last few months diesel has risen by £1 a gallon at least. These litres mean little to older folks like me but gallons I understand.
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I feel like I'm throwing oil on the flames, but BBC North West has just reported that a demonstration has started at Stanlow, allegedly farmers and hauliers protesting about the price of fuel. As the majority of the cost of fuel, as we all know too well, is tax, and lets face it, none of the major parties are going to change from the current policy, I'd have a great deal of support for these people if they were to go and blockade the homes of their MP's
;-)
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I'm happy to support any protest; I'm paying £1.12 for a litre of unleaded now. Local supermarket is only charging a penny less so I am happy to spend the one penny more to use a mainstream fuel supplier. However, the thought of how much of that £1.12 goes to tax makes me pretty snippety snip off!
Edited by Pugugly on 01/05/2008 at 23:49
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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7378800.stm
Some more here - not a particularly original or popular form of protest I suspect.
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Who are you going to try to influence with your protest?
Try blockading the emerging economies of China and India and their demand for fuel which is driving up the price. You might also want to park your tractor across the gate of OPEC and ask them why the price of crude has increased by a far greater amount than the 7% increase in demand from China and India in the last year.
Or you can save your breath and just come to terms with the fact that you and I are royally stuffed by vested interests that wouldn't even flicker if every refrinery in the land was blockaded for a week.
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You mean Mr Brown and his cronies, I take it...
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I'm with Nsar on this one. It?s market forces that put the cost where it is, not the government or even the oil companies. Even if the fuel tax was reduced to alleviate the current burden, the tax shortfall would have to be levied elsewhere.
The last lot of fuel protests inconvenienced everyone and achieved zilch. I remember travelling on a bus which ran out of fuel!
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The reason the last fuel blockage never worked is because it ended to soon. I am also ready to back any blockage. There must be a fairer way in taxing the people in this country.
I would start by forcing all the spongers that are milking the state back to work. As it is us, the car users that are keeping them going.
Edited by bhoy wonder on 02/05/2008 at 10:18
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My misses and me have worked out that we can afford a further 18% rise in prices before we will be unable to fuel our vehicles for our needs.
We never go out anywhere but work or to buy food/supplies so its not like we use excessively.
I loath the arguements that you shoudl get a job close to home, that areallya nnoys me as the lower end of the job market is dead as my misses found out when trying to get a minimum wage job - took her a month and 35 interviews despite her ten years retail experience and with bills coming through the door, where in the town her job would be was not a choice we had.
As such, id fully support a long protest, even if it brings the country to its knees. Maybe we need that. Im rather lucky in that my father grows all our veg so we wouldnt run outta food.
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So how does your "misses" get to work if there is a long fuel protest?
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So how does your "misses" get to work if there is a long fuel protest?
Cycle, id accompany her to and from work for safety.
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Even if the fuel tax was reduced to alleviate the current burden the tax shortfall would have to be levied elsewhere.
Not necessarily, the government could (and should) cut unneccesary spending, e.g. adminstration costs in goverment facilities, illegal wars etc.
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Crude has dropped back by 10% over the past week, yet fuel prices have gone up. Unleaded was 107.9 in my local Esso station a week ago last Monday, and I paid 111.9 last night.
Don't forget the government is also making extra revenue from VAT off the back of the high oil prices. There is room for manoeuvre, even if it's only a token gesture.
It can't be that hard to implement a flexible level of fuel duty that rises and falls with the oil price. If the government could even be seen to be giving a toss and making some sort of effort to alleviate the genuine pain the current fuel prices are causing, it would reduce the resentment and ill feeling that's building among motorists.
I also suspect that fuel prices are playing a part in the kicking the government got in yesterday's elections. It affects far more people than the Northern Rock fiasco or the 10p income tax row that they are "officially" blaming for their poor showing.
Cheers
DP
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The sooner they start the better!!
Working as I do in Road Transport I can say hand on heart that things are going down the pan - fast.
In the last month I have lost 2 clients with 3, 44t, trucks between them. They have packed up - the cost of fuel was too much for them to stand, their customers would not pay for any price hike as they could still get the goods moved by foreign trucks.
I have not had any new business enquirers for a number of months, and I have not changed my advertising that always used to bring a steady stream in. It's just no one is prepared to take the high risk and start up in transport at the moment - and who can blame them!!
It is really getting to a crunch point that I think will end in tears!
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It is really getting to a crunch point that I think will end in tears!
For the government I hope. Unfortunately us, the people of Britain are going to have to suffer some major inconvenience before things change. It time to stand up and be counted as I have had enough. Voting these people out does not make the slightest bit of difference as who ever takes over will just do the same.
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Fuel protests have already started. I was in a taxi the other day and we passed a group of protesters. One had a placard which read "Honk if you support our cause". The taxi driver turned to me and said "Don't you dare. Woe betide anyone who honks in my taxi."
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>>You might also want to park your tractor across the gate of OPEC and ask them why the
>>price of crude has increased by a far greater amount than the 7% increase in demand
>>from China and India in the last year.
But demand and price are not related linearly.
Imagine, one Monet for sale at Christies. Nobody wants to buy it: value nil. One person wants to buy it: value £1m. A second person also wants to buy it: value £1.01m - £100m
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WoW, what a difference 4 and a half hours can make.
Since my last post another one of my long term clients has informed me he has just hung up his keys. Sold his truck and wound up his business.
His reason was that his costs are climbing on a daily basis (fuel, HP and insurance) yet his customers are trying to drive his rates down.
Looks like my business will shortly be going the same way if things don't start to pick up soon!!!!
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I use my car almost exclusively for business, and the recent price hikes are beginning to seriously hurt. if the government stopped wasting money on stupid junk like the Olympics which hardly anyone wants, I am sure they could easily knock a few pence off a litre.
We are also subsidising rural rail lines that are simply not used. I sometimes have an in-car tea break in the car park adjacent to Milford haven station. Even at five in the evening, which you would expect to be a peak travelling time, a train pulls in and leaves again often with one or two passengers on board. The same goes for the line to Fishguard. A people carrier could replace both lines and nobody would suffer. We are throwing money away to satisfy the green lobbies never ending demands in keeping these white elephants running.
Edited by Robin Reliant on 03/05/2008 at 00:58
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