More Fuel for Thought

THE IMPACT OF FUEL PRICING

Lindsay Hoyle says:

'So let us outline the impact of these price rises on those who feel it most acutely. First, hardworking families and rural communities, both of which are reliant on their cars.

'In my constituency in Lancashire, there is a large rural community: parents need to get children to school and farmers must move around the area. Any increase in the cost of a tank of petrol must be funded from their static household budgets.'

An admission then that it's those who have no choice but to drive who are most feeling the squeeze at the filling station.

With current prices up around £1.15 a litre unleaded, as high as at any point during the madness of 2008, drivers are asking who's to blame for these prices.

ELECTION ANSWERS

Lindsay Hoyle thinks he has the answer:

'It is, unfortunately, to be located at the desks of a handful of investors instructing market speculators to drive prices up, and sustained by petrol companies not being prepared to pass falls directly on to the consumer.'

This good old fashioned corporation-bashing is not strictly in line with the truth of the matter perhaps, but will always play well with Labour voters.

The truth is that of the £1.15 you are charged at the pump around 40p goes to the retailer, with the Government getting the rest as fuel duty and VAT. They spend their 55p or so for fuel duty on maintaining the roads themselves and combating the noise and the pollution caused by motorists.

THE COST OF CARS

They also have to deal with the nasty business of patching up the people who get themselves into trouble on the roads.

The heavy social cost of carbon emissions also has to be factored in.

So the user motorist has to pay his dues. So why do we all feel so ripped off?

The answer lies in the devaluation of our currency. When the pound falls against the dollar (as it has done by some 30% in recent years), then the price of oil expressed in pounds will rise by the same amount.

DRIVING A SHIFT TOWARDS ELECTRIC CARS

In looking at these escalating costs the Labour Government is obliged to defer to international thinking on climate change and a new kind of socialism.

The answer of course, and the only direct reference to motoring on Labour's election website, lies in green cars. The future of policy would emphasize 'Labour's intention to drive a shift to low-carbon and electric cars in the UK'.

The practical reality of motoring for the 30 million or so car owners in the UK falls behind an ideological shift towards a more eco-friendly future.

 

Ben Williams, 6th April 2010