'FairFuelUK had a massive vindication this week. Months ago I grimly warned Treasury mandarins that high fuel duty would savage consumer discretionary spending and clobber our fragile economic recovery. And I was so right. Tesco have just released figures that showed that sales in their stores had been significantly reduced by high fuel costs. Finance Director Laurie McIlwee said 'If you cut to the chase of what are customers are saying to us, the most painful aspect is fuel'. And if a retail giant like Tesco is seeing the effect of petrol poverty, there will be thousands of other business in the UK experiencing exactly the same. The fuel duty monster is corroding any hope of an economic upturn and forcing consumers to stay at home. The roads are quieter, retail footfall is down and I've even seen people paying for fuel with piles of pound coins. We've never hurt like this before.
This week also saw MP for Hatfield, Robert Halfon, organise a special debate in the Commons on fuel prices. I was there with plenty of MPs who all agreed that something must be done. Labour and Conservative put their differences to one side and told the debate how their constituents don't care about AV, bin collections or NHS reforms. All they want is cheaper petrol and diesel. Robert's determined to keep the fuel debate on Westminster's radar and later this month he'll bring the 2011 RAC Report on Motoring to the Prime Minister's attention, and it makes grim reading. Rural communities are hardest hit with many families saying that they can't afford to see relatives and friends or even take their children out at weekends. If we're not careful petrol poverty will isolate sections of society and create a stranded underclass. Help FairFuelUK to stop this happening.
Sign up to our petition now. Tell your friends and colleagues too. Sign up at http://bit.ly/fairfueluk
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ADD YOUR OWN COMMENTS BELOW THIS POST. THEY ARE VERY WELCOME
[ posted by dave bainbridge, June 18, 2011 17:57 ]
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[ posted by paul pilfold, June 18, 2011 19:11 ]
ever since the 2nd Tax on Fuel was dumped upon the British public people have been saying it will strangle our way of life, as a child i can remeber going to different coastal towns all around the year, be it sunbathing at margate and then going into dreamland, or sea fishing at hastings. as a young adult me and friends used to spend days out at theam parks, and also evening drives to seaside coasts to spend some spare cash in the arcades, in those days i had a 3.0 ghia capri not very economical but still we would do up to 200-300 Miles a weekend visiting diferent towns are the uk. but now im married with two teens and have not been able to afford to take my children to the places my father took me or the places i used to go with friends, a lot of my friends are now in the same situation they cannot afford lifes little luxarys like day trips to the coast ( could be a reason why towns like margate ARE GHOST TOWNS & places like Dreamland closed) we have a little 1.4 wagon R but still CAN NOT afford the fuel to fill up its tank. for my sons 16th we bought him a moped because it would be cheaper to use to and from his collage, but now hes 18 and He nor his mates can aford the fuel to meet each other and use there peds to travel around. what i hate mostly are the people that bury there heads in the sand and say well its these gready oil companys. some body needs to devlope an app or even a live update webpage of the REAL COST of FUEL and its TAXES VAT & Fuel Duty. i know the government want to reduce the greenhouse affect buy lining there pockets from the poor people But what will they tax next if NO ONE uses petrol or diesel.
Keep up the GREAT WORK FFUK & Quentin Willson.
[ posted by CLIVE R DOWDALL, June 18, 2011 22:52 ]
THE U.K. TAX ON ROAD FUEL. CIGARETTES AND BOOZE ARE ALL ILLEGAL UNDER THE E.U. 1998 TAX HARMONIZATION LAW
IT WILL TAKE DEEP POCKETS TO TAKE ACTION I HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE COMMISSIONER MR LASZLO KOVACS AS FAR BACK AS SIX YEARS AGO. OUR M.Ps ARE JUST PAYING LIP SERVICE TO ANYONE WHO TAKES ACTION ON THIS SUBJECT
[ posted by David Britten, June 18, 2011 23:45 ]
Telling Treasury officials anything even slightly difficult will be greeted with the blank expressions of the fundamentally stupid. The effect of crushingly heavy fuel costs was predictable to everyone, especially given that this government is imposing tax increases on the majority of wage and salary earners, and cutting benefits to the most vulnerable. The top 10% who own 90% of the country's wealth simply cannot spend enough to make up the loss, but the Treasury is populated by arrogant plonkers who think they know it all and, despite being wrong almost all of the time, still refuse to believe that they ever could be.
[ posted by Mary, June 21, 2011 23:00 ]
I am short of a weeks worth of fuel every month. 1/4 of my income is spent on fuel. I skipped meals last week to ensure I could get the children to school and I could get to work!
Watch the fuel offers at supermarkets. The essential items in store seem to be a few pence more expensive when the fuel offers are on - cancelling out any savng.
I have cut my shopping bill down by 1/3 to pay for fuel.
Frozen fuel allowance and cost of living allowance, when income supposed to be protected by Public Sector Pay Freeze - something needs to be done now!!!!!
[ posted by Michael Houston, June 22, 2011 19:16 ]
I joined this campaign very early on, when petrol first hit the £1.40 per litre mark. It's now several months on and nothing has changed, nor will it if we continue to ignore the apathy in this country. Here's an indication of the level of apathy which exists, with regard to this particular issue. I have just returned from a few days holiday, visiting friends in Halifax, for which I used my car. On my way down, on the A74 there was a BP service station on "my" side offering petrol at £1.349 and diesel at £1.389. On the opposite side, a Shell station offered petrol at £1.369 and diesel at £1.419. It's £0.02 per litre of petrol and £0.03 per litre of diesel dearer, to travel north! Around Halifax, petrol seemed to hover around the £1.339 per litre and diesel around the £1.359 per litre mark. The most expensive fuel I saw, was a BP station I believe, with diesel at £1.489 per litre. If anyone can tell me of any other goods that have such disparity in price, not only locally but nationally, then I would be interested to hear it. Whilst there, there was a report on the local news from a Yorkshire county that had managed to raise 500,000 signatures in protest at the closure of a children's heart unit. The largest ever regional petition, it is believed. While this is a magnificent and wonderful thing and I'm sure everyone, including myself, is in full support of such a wonderful cause, doesn't it make FFUK's total of 157,000 (est.) signatures seem rather pathetic? Of course this can only be an estimate as the "running total" counter has recently been removed, perhaps because we all realised that, at the optimistic level of 1,000 signatures per week, it will take around 19 years to hit the 1 million mark. This little tale illustrates that we CAN make our voices heard when we want to, when the cause is of sufficient importance to rally support. With regards to the price of fuel? Well, perhaps we just don't care enough...