Lower petrol & diesel prices e-petition

[Snowy]

Nobody is happy paying the prices we do. I put £80 in one of the cars yesterday and it's costing £50 to fill the GS up. Of course I'm not happy. But, before I sign any petition or protest about fuel prices, I want to know where the balance is going to be made up. There will be no drop in tax on fuel without another tax going up or a cutback somewhere else in the budget.

I would prefer keeping fuel prices where they are, where I have some means of control over what I pay because I have some choice over my mileage (as most do) rather than closure of NHS services, increases to basic rate tax, VAT or some other scheme that will hit the less well off than the majority of us on this forum who ride bikes with a degree of choice.

I have to use my car for work as well. But I can do one less rideout a year, or miss a couple of trips to the H&C a year, or ride at 70mph instead of 80 mph on the motorway, or combine two trips into one in the car etc etc. Its so easy to complain without having an alternative which is'nt based on personal politics, biased attitudes or general apathy to actually having a complete plan of action as part of a bigger picture.

[redken1]

Unfortunately, it is all about making political choices. I offered up for consideration some suggested alternative measures for huge savings in post 20. It’s not rocket science – any tax which is not income based will always hit the poorest the hardest disproportionately because they have less disposable income. High tax on fuel is only one example.
I think we live in exiting times in the sense that millions of ordinary people have finally wised up to the inequality that exists. According to recent data from the British Social Attitudes survey, three-quarters of people in the UK believe that the gap between rich and poor in the UK is too high. Like it or not, call me a moaner if you wish, but many are not going to take it lying down. It's too late for me perhaps, but I want my children and granchildren to live in a fairer Britian.

[Snowy]

We want the same things Ken and I did note your suggestions, I just don't think they are realistic or achievable one way or another. I also don't see it being a choice when it comes to politics: Labour, Tory or Liberal they are all no different than each other. We need a sound economic base and stability before we can move forward and our taxation system is part of a core budget. It can be changed over time but not by changing ad hoc individual elements - it has to take the whole system into account.

And I don't think you are a moaner at all - I think your arguments are well thought out and presented. They're just not the same as mine.

[redken1]

Sorry Graeme, I didn’t explain my thoughts clearly- I agree all the parties are the same give or take a few minor differences in policies. I was referring to the political choices with regard to taxation etc. We can obviously differ on what measures need to be introduced to bring about change for the better, but the ever widening gap between the rich and poor is a matter of fact. I have genuine concerns that if the politicians continue to ignore the inequality that exists in our society, large numbers of those affected will not be turning to the ballot box to redress the balance. Apologies again, my comments with reference to moaning were not aimed at you. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Squashed_Fly]

People have lost sight of the difference between what we want, and what we need. We need to have basic facilities - roofs over heads, running water, basic food etc. However people seem to think that they 'need' all the other luxuries in life.

I'm guilty, as much as others, of living outside my means at times, justifying my spend habits with all sorts of reasons, but when you compare how easy we have it as a society to other countries that are genuinly struggling, I think we have more important things to worry about than fuel prices.

Since I'm clearly uneducated, stupid and ignorant, then feel free to ignore my ideas, but I would have a duel tariff for petrol/diesel. One for business use, and one for personal. Tax should be reduced on business tarriff fuel (you could have specific pumps set up like the debit/credit card pumps, but for fuel cards) to make things easier for struggling industries who already have to pay high business tax rates, and then we can justify the higher tax rates on our personal fuel for our bikes, sports cars etc that are 'toys'. Even family cars should pay the higher rates - perhaps then joe bloggs will think twice before giving his overweight kids a lift to school in the chelsea tractor, rather than making them walk and get fitter/healthier etc. Yes, this is a generalisation, but if the latest stats about overweight & underfit kids are to be believed, one that's not far from the truth.

The sad fact is, when it comes to backbone, none of our political parties have any really. It's always the 'poll winner' policies that get advertised, with no-one willing to deal with many of the true issues making the economy colapse such as benefit fraud, immigration, the fact that it's better for many people to be on the dole than have jobs to name & discipline in our schools and young people but a few.

If we could get those things sorted out, get out of the EU, and stop interfering in other countries business & politics, then we could comfortably lower the tax on fuel as it wouldn't need to be so high to support the stupid decisions of our so called leaders.

[redken1]

SF, Businesses already enjoy a tax concession on fuel.

[Squashed_Fly]

Perhaps that needs to be a better concession then, supported by the increased duty on on personal fuel. The one caveat being that you can can claim commuter miles as work mileage. That way no-one can say they can't afford the fuel to get to work if they are claiming back 45p a mile, and the increases only hit us for our personal mileage?

If I was asked to go back to working in the office now that I live in Swindon, I couldn't afford to work in Cheltenham really. But as I work from home, when I do go in I can claim back those miles as it's technically not commuting

[redken1]

Royal Bank of Scotland, last year awarded its highest-paid executive a base salary of £1.8m, 12.5 times more than the UK's Prime Minister and six times more than the country's highest-paid civil servant.

Forcing a part time cleaner on the minimum wage to pay more for fuel to commute to her/his place of work in order to subsidise business travel for executives (like above) would be a real disincentive for many to take up low paid employment.

[Squashed_Fly]

Forcing a part time cleaner on the minimum wage to pay more for fuel to commute to her/his place of work in order to subsidise business travel for executives (like above) would be a real disincentive for many to take up low paid employment.

Agreed. That's why we should be allowed to claim back the cost of commuter mileage

[Harry87]

It's luck of the draw. We are all born into different social structures and classes. There will always be rich, always be poor. Life's a bitch. Get on with it.

Be happy and content with what you have. No one cares about you. No one will give you a happier life. So enjoy your short time on Earth.

As, for the petition, has it got to 100,000 yet?

Edit: Ah, I see it has 101,000 'signatures'.