[TMP]

So after putting in £90 quid in the 5er today, might as well try and get some e90 humour and views on the what then summer has in store.

My bet is for 150.9 around May

All we need is a couple more Arab states to fall, and it may be even sooner.

[Carrera RSR]

Paid 139.9 for regular diesel on the M5 yesterday - over £82 for a fill up!. 149.9 in the services by Easter weekend i reckon as we all take an extended week off with the wedding the following week.

[jjbirch]

hope not as i just brought 3.0d lol

[willhollin]

Still a lot cheaper than a pint of beer!

[acerboo]

its about time EVERYONE started demonstrating again thee amount of tax on fuel especialy diesel is highway robbery. its aslo raising inflation and holding the economy back.

[beemerbird]

Think we're reaching crisis point.

The effects on the hauliers has been brought to the attention of the Government, they have asked them to reduce the duty on fuel. Price of food in the shops has gone up without a doubt, the cost of getting the food to the shops has risen, someone has to pay.

The Government know damn well that crippling people in this way stiffles our economy. Reports show that many people are not using their cars as much, that also reduces the Governments revenue for obvious reasons.

We currently have inflation around 4%? The traditional way to reduce inflation is to reduce the Bank of England base rate. The dowside being it would slow the economy which would in turn increase inflation - counter productive.

Bank of England are currently reluctant to put up interest rates for some of the reasons above.

Over to you Cameron & Co...............

[davyk31]

Is it not increase interest rates to lower inflation ??? Less disposable income so less spending. Problem is that at the moment inflation is high due to high fuel and food costs ie. the essentials of life not the luxuries.

[beemerbird]

Yes when times are good but traditionally when times are bad, like now, it would be counter productive.

Maintain the current the BoE base rate in these economic times is probably better wording to use. My bad.

[peterg1965]

I find it incredible that there is, effectively, one lever to control inflation and that is interest rates. The last thing the economy needs is higher borrowing costs at this time in the economic cycle. Most of the upwards pressures on costs which leads to inflation are completely outwith the control of the BoE and the UK Government - commodity, food and oil prices spring to mind, if they continue to rise, there is bugger all that this country can do to stop it and inflation will continue to rise even with higher interest rates. There are also many deflationary aspects to the economy, wages are increasing at a much lower rate that CPI/RPI for instance.

I reckon that fuel duty will be addressed to a small degree in the forthcoming budget, not saying that prices will go down by a lot, but we all know (and so do the Govt) that duty is way too much.

[Mike in Hampshire]

Originally Posted by peterg1965

but we all know (and so do the Govt) that duty is way too much.

Hold on though Peter, the coalition were elected, in part, to deal with the deficit. Which means reducing net public expenditure. So, if you don't collect in fuel duty, you will have less expenditure. Which do you prefer?

Or to put it bluntly, BMW drivers paying more fuel tax, or fewer nurses?

VAT increases - people accept it.
Local authorities shed jobs - people accept it (apart from the Unions)
Child benefit abolished above £43k - seems to have been accepted
But, maintain the mark up we call fuel duty - outrage!

Where's the logic? Aren't they all the same give-and-take package? Or has the Rioja got the better of me again?

Mike.

[pjs]

If they dont get the tax via fuel, they'll get it by other means. If Barclays had paid more tax, petrol might be 1p cheaper. 2-3 years of this before they start to sweeten us up for the next election. Most of us on here could get a more economical car,

[Mike in Hampshire]

Originally Posted by pjs

If they dont get the tax via fuel, they'll get it by other means. If Barclays had paid more tax, petrol might be 1p cheaper. 2-3 years of this before they start to sweeten us up for the next election. Most of us on here could get a more economical car,

Agree, agree, agree, and agree.

Mike.

[peterg1965]

Originally Posted by Mike in Hampshire

Hold on though Peter, the coalition were elected, in part, to deal with the deficit. Which means reducing net public expenditure. So, if you don't collect in fuel duty, you will have less expenditure. Which do you prefer?

Or to put it bluntly, BMW drivers paying more fuel tax, or fewer nurses?

VAT increases - people accept it.
Local authorities shed jobs - people accept it (apart from the Unions)
Child benefit abolished above £43k - seems to have been accepted
But, maintain the mark up we call fuel duty - outrage!

Where's the logic? Aren't they all the same give-and-take package? Or has the Rioja got the better of me again?

Mike.

I think it is the case that if oil prices, and therefore fuel duty, rises above a certain (whatever that is - we must be close) figure, that revenue from fuel actually begins to fall. Discretionary use of vehicles begins to reduce as people choose to drive less. I suspect we may have actually past that point already. There must be a maximum tax take from fuel duty, ot at least a point at which the tax take begins to increase comparitively much slower for any given rise in the price of oil.

Originally Posted by pjs

If they dont get the tax via fuel, they'll get it by other means. If Barclays had paid more tax, petrol might be 1p cheaper. 2-3 years of this before they start to sweeten us up for the next election. Most of us on here could get a more economical car,

Don't get caught up in the media hype over Barclays. What they did in off setting last years losses against this years corporation tax isn't anything that any other business doesn;t do. It is a media frenzy against the banks and frankly it is achieving nothing. This year they will be paying £billions in tax as well as having paid the 'one off' taxes imposed last year. Barclays making a profits helps the vast majority of us who have investments/pensions which rely on the performance of these big institutions. And, Barclays did not take any tax payers/Government money during the banking crisis.

As a share holder, tax payer and a citizen of the UK the more they make the better.

[beemerbird]

Originally Posted by Mike in Hampshire

Or to put it bluntly, BMW drivers paying more fuel tax,

Oh that's ok then if you drive a BMW you pay more fuel tax.............Peter and I and everyone else is better off then.

Think you could have worded that a bit better.

Cost of fuel affects millions of people of all incomes all the time either directly or indirectly.

[Rochdale Pioneers]

It's more complex than "we pay too much tax". Most countries in Europe pay less tax but higher pump prices for unleaded. Why? Exchange rates! Fuel is $50 less than its peak yet pump prices are the same. Why? Exchange rates.

Let's say the government goes mad and slashes 10p off duty. Pump price drops to 120p. Anyone happy? Then crude increases in price and the pump price drifts back up. Government sacrifices the income for minimal to no benefit for the motorist.

And as someone pointed out above, fuel is still cheap. Most filling stations a litre of fuel is the. Cheapest litre of any liquid you can buy!

[ed335d]

Originally Posted by Rochdale Pioneers

And as someone pointed out above, fuel is still cheap. Most filling stations a litre of fuel is the. Cheapest litre of any liquid you can buy!

True, but I'd have difficulty in using 60 litres of any other liquid in such a short space of time

I'm currently paying £1.329 for Shell super, which I don't think's too bad (relatively).

[acerboo]

the poblem with fuel is that it doesnt just affect the motorist. all goods at some time or other will travel by road. this means that you are not just hit with fuel tax when you buy petrol/diesel every time you buy something you are paying the extra fuel duty just look at how carriage charges have rocketed. the high cost of fuel deters motoring tourists from coming to the uk and those that do come dont travel as mich so far flung places like cornwall and wales who rely a lot on tourism suffer. weve never worried too much about fuel prices but now we are making economies.

what the government should do is out fuel tax on aircraft fuel as at present it is NOT taxed. this would enable them to lower the road fuel tax and address the balance. the airline industry is the fastest growing source of carbon emissions and wastes enormous amounts of fuel at rock bottom prices. this would also deter as many people going abroad on holiday at the same time boosting the domestic tourist trade.