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I got a mail on this quite recently, asking UK buyers to boycott petrol stations on the 1st of every month starting August. It mentions the original topic (there you go LAMFDTK!) but I've produced it in full because of the way the thread's went!
I'm not saying I agree with it all - some facts are hyped, personal opinion and some white lies too (eg buses were cheaper than cars so if both go up by 30%...) but there you go. btw, if you want help understanding any of it (been a while since I actually read it all myself) then let me know - or ask a fellow Brit!
Paul.
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Fact 1:
When the petrol price was hiked in America last year, that's precisely what the people did. Nobody bought petrol for a day. The loss of revenue was crippling for some of the big players. They rallied round and forced the prices down again.
Fact 2
If you live in the UK, you are taxed at 333% on your petrol. Petrol is now fast approaching £0.90 per litre. That's £4.10 a gallon. For every £50 fill-up, you are giving the government £43 out of your own pocket.
Fact 3
Britain has been hit worse than all other countries in Oil Company price hikes, due to the rising price of crude. Before the 1999 Budget, a litre of unleaded petrol was 59.9p. The 4p a litre tax hike in 1999 followed by the 2p a litre hike in 2000 would have meant a price today of 65.9p a litre. Oil companies have added on another huge chunk which with UK taxes amounts to today's price of 85.9p a litre (as at 19th June 2000). No other country has experienced this increase on the same rapid and ongoing scale.
Fact 4
For the average family, a 1p increase per litre in the cost of fuel means an extra £100 a year out of their pocket. Work it out for yourself. In the weeks leading up to mid June, you all took a salary cut of around £700 a year.
Fact 5
An average car with a 60 litre tank capacity now pays £15 more to fill his car now than he/she did only 15 months ago. That increase is more than 30% over 15 months. Britain's increase alone is more than the Americans pay for their fuel.
Fact 6
Fuel duty has little to do with the environment. Leaded petrol was supposedly taxed highly for environmental reasons. Why then, when it was replaced with LRP did the price not come down? Diesel fuel is cheaper, yet pollutes more by producing carcinogens and particulates. LPG is the cleanest fuel there is but you don't see the government promoting that do you?
Fact 7
£38billion is sucked out of motorist's pockets each year in tax. You buy the planet's most expensive petrol, but do you see that money going back into the roads? No you do not. A recent study pointed out that most of Britain's roads are up to 15 years beyond their structural refurbishment date.
Fact 8
Freight companies are suffering - so is our trade with the EU. When a haulage company has to fill it's tanks with diesel taxed at such a ridiculous rate, it's running costs become so expensive that companies take their business to haulage firms based on the continent. That in turn means a loss of income for our country.
Fact 9
Public transport is not an option. Buses and coaches become more expensive again because of the underlying cost of running them. The privatised rail and bus companies continue to slash services and close branch routes because running them is not "cost effective." i.e. the shareholders aren't getting their dividends. And the government are doing nothing about it. Rail companies have been under performing and missing targets as stipulated by their contracts ever since privatisation. Yet they're all still in business. In many areas like most of Scotland, even in cities like Aberdeen, there is virtually no rail network and a very poor and very expensive bus network which is monopolised by 2 big operators, unlike London where virtually every mode of transport known to man is readily, and comparatively cheaply available. The government think that public transport is an excellent "alternative" to the car. So much so, they never use it themselves and operate on a do as I say, not as I do basis. John "two-jags" Prescott only ever uses public transport for PR, and each time he does, his chauffer driven Jaguar (which averages 15mpg and is financed by the tax-payer) is waiting for him when he gets off. His fellow government ministers have become very arrogant, autocratic, self important and distant from ordinary everyday life as well - so much so that even the Chancellor admitted that he did not know the price of fuel when questioned recently.
Fact 10
The government have given local councils the ability to charge motorists for using roads (tolls) and the power to tax workers for parking their car at their workplace (even in a private car park). This will prove disastrous for the UK, and will damage the country in many ways. One example of this is the tourist industry who are likely to see an even bigger fall in the number of motoring tourists due to the UK's highway robbery.
When the petrol price was hiked in America last year, that's precisely what the people did. Nobody bought petrol for a day. The loss of revenue was crippling for some of the big players. They rallied round and forced the prices down again.
Fact 2
If you live in the UK, you are taxed at 333% on your petrol. Petrol is now fast approaching £0.90 per litre. That's £4.10 a gallon. For every £50 fill-up, you are giving the government £43 out of your own pocket.
Fact 3
Britain has been hit worse than all other countries in Oil Company price hikes, due to the rising price of crude. Before the 1999 Budget, a litre of unleaded petrol was 59.9p. The 4p a litre tax hike in 1999 followed by the 2p a litre hike in 2000 would have meant a price today of 65.9p a litre. Oil companies have added on another huge chunk which with UK taxes amounts to today's price of 85.9p a litre (as at 19th June 2000). No other country has experienced this increase on the same rapid and ongoing scale.
Fact 4
For the average family, a 1p increase per litre in the cost of fuel means an extra £100 a year out of their pocket. Work it out for yourself. In the weeks leading up to mid June, you all took a salary cut of around £700 a year.
Fact 5
An average car with a 60 litre tank capacity now pays £15 more to fill his car now than he/she did only 15 months ago. That increase is more than 30% over 15 months. Britain's increase alone is more than the Americans pay for their fuel.
Fact 6
Fuel duty has little to do with the environment. Leaded petrol was supposedly taxed highly for environmental reasons. Why then, when it was replaced with LRP did the price not come down? Diesel fuel is cheaper, yet pollutes more by producing carcinogens and particulates. LPG is the cleanest fuel there is but you don't see the government promoting that do you?
Fact 7
£38billion is sucked out of motorist's pockets each year in tax. You buy the planet's most expensive petrol, but do you see that money going back into the roads? No you do not. A recent study pointed out that most of Britain's roads are up to 15 years beyond their structural refurbishment date.
Fact 8
Freight companies are suffering - so is our trade with the EU. When a haulage company has to fill it's tanks with diesel taxed at such a ridiculous rate, it's running costs become so expensive that companies take their business to haulage firms based on the continent. That in turn means a loss of income for our country.
Fact 9
Public transport is not an option. Buses and coaches become more expensive again because of the underlying cost of running them. The privatised rail and bus companies continue to slash services and close branch routes because running them is not "cost effective." i.e. the shareholders aren't getting their dividends. And the government are doing nothing about it. Rail companies have been under performing and missing targets as stipulated by their contracts ever since privatisation. Yet they're all still in business. In many areas like most of Scotland, even in cities like Aberdeen, there is virtually no rail network and a very poor and very expensive bus network which is monopolised by 2 big operators, unlike London where virtually every mode of transport known to man is readily, and comparatively cheaply available. The government think that public transport is an excellent "alternative" to the car. So much so, they never use it themselves and operate on a do as I say, not as I do basis. John "two-jags" Prescott only ever uses public transport for PR, and each time he does, his chauffer driven Jaguar (which averages 15mpg and is financed by the tax-payer) is waiting for him when he gets off. His fellow government ministers have become very arrogant, autocratic, self important and distant from ordinary everyday life as well - so much so that even the Chancellor admitted that he did not know the price of fuel when questioned recently.
Fact 10
The government have given local councils the ability to charge motorists for using roads (tolls) and the power to tax workers for parking their car at their workplace (even in a private car park). This will prove disastrous for the UK, and will damage the country in many ways. One example of this is the tourist industry who are likely to see an even bigger fall in the number of motoring tourists due to the UK's highway robbery.
Paul.
------------------
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Arena | P3K | TechSupport | Portal
Join SETI@MURC!
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