any protest against the price of fuel ultimately effects solely the retailers who make very little on petrol,it has very little effect on the oil companies or the government,and as the price is dictated by the world oil price there is very little that can be done. the government still needs to get in its taxes to pay off the deficit and to keep services running .
what would you rather pay additional taxes on to make up the lost revenue?
I guess VAT on food would be a start?
Seriously, I think the government could have held back on recent rises at least and found the income from other streams but they can justify them as part of an overall "green" policy (a joke I know) but there is a moral argument for drivers paying additional taxes. I do believe UK based food and clothing transport companies should get tax discounts to reduce costs though.
What a load of bollocks !!!! You should have read the original post properly - he's complaining about the DUTY. The DUTY is determined by the government and should be frozen for at least two years. Duty makes up around 70% of the price we pay at the pump. To make it worse the government first adds fuel duty to the cost of a litre and then charges VAT on that duty - double taxation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a load of bollocks !!!! You should have read the original post properly - he's complaining about the DUTY. The DUTY is determined by the government and should be frozen for at least two years. Duty makes up around 70% of the price we pay at the pump. To make it worse the government first adds fuel duty to the cost of a litre and then charges VAT on that duty - double taxation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a load of bollocks !!!! You should have read the original post properly - he's complaining about the DUTY. The DUTY is determined by the government and should be frozen for at least two years. Duty makes up around 70% of the price we pay at the pump. To make it worse the government first adds fuel duty to the cost of a litre and then charges VAT on that duty - double taxation !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any Government, at this point in time, would be in an unenviable position given that they have to attempt, under great difficulty, to balance the books. Tax is either raised this way or by some other means, no doubt as distasteful to some or other group of citizens.
Reverting to the OP, people either pay more for petrol which, in some cases, is a luxury OR they resort to public transport which, frankly, will not be able to pick up that much slack and that is the tightrope the Government have to walk !
Or they get a bike and get some exercise while they travel to work.
The problem being that many people need to drive to work ( public transport has been run into the ground over the last decade or so ). If people can't afford to get to work then it actually costs the state more.
Except in rural areas that is very hard to actually justify as an argument but we could create jobs by reinvigorating mass transport systems (buses/trains); give incentives for car sharing schemes; increase inner city parking charges and tax company parking spaces, and ban non-resident private car parking from a radius of half a mile around any school. It would cut peoples' expenditure on fuel, address some of the green-consciousness issues,and give people something different to moan about........... like "infringement of their human rights"probably!
Another point, £4 is a ludicrous amount to charge for public transport in Brighton. It only needs two of you and it is cheaper to travel by car and park somewhere. Whilst moaning about fuel prices, I would rather moan about public transport costs. If you know where to park (for free) in Brighton, it is infinitely cheaper to drive in and then walk a short distance to the centre.
The government see fuel tax as a case of you use it, you pay for it. There aren't many other things they can tax for compensating the money they would lose by reducing petrol/ diesel prices,
However, I do think they should reduce the tax for HGV's as its killing their business and the opportunity to be competitive and help UK business thrive.
Too much time has passed to find viable taxable alternatives to tax on fuel, it was a mistake to hike it so high all those years ago.
It does make you sick to think a litre of petrol in Saudi is cheaper than a litre of bottled water!
I would prefer it if we as a country looked to save money in other ways to reduce fuel prices, i.e. foreign aid, benefits, immigration etc.
No I don't read the daily mail or express, nor am I a racist. I do believe that the government wastes alot of uk taxpayers money regardless of whether they are labour, Tory or otherwise. Time to grow a pair and look after the people whilst telling the likes of Brussels, Germany etc to do one!
Sent from my iPhone using my fingers.
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I do believe that the government wastes alot of uk taxpayers money regardless of whether they are labour, Tory or otherwise.