Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Regarding yesterday's Autocar report on $200/barrel oil and £8/gal petrol/diesel it is worth remembering that the UK has the shameful claim to fame of having the highest tax on road fuel of any country of note in the world. More than 60% of the current £110.9/litre price of petrol is tax, to the Exchequer.

For petrol the tax is currently 50.35p per litre fuel duty(due to go up 2p/litre 1.10.2008) plus 16.52p VAT making 66.87p per litre in total, or 60.3% of the 110.9p total price.

For diesel it's higher. 50.35p per litre fuel duty(again to go up 2p/litre 1.10.2008) plus 18p VAT making  68.35p per litre in total. From the latest SMMT April registration figures diesel fuelled vehicles now make up approaching 50% of all vehicles.

See Telegraph report today on UK highest fuel tax: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/fair_deal_for_drivers/1942640/UK-drivers-pay-highest-fuel-taxes-in-Europe.html  - their stated figure of 57p tax per litre of petrol is wrong. Is 10p higher!

The fuel duty tax must be cut, now.

 

loather:

Regarding yesterday's Autocar report on $200/barrel oil and £8/gal petrol/diesel it is worth remembering that the UK has the shameful claim to fame of having the highest tax on road fuel of any country of note in the world. More than 60% of the current £110.9/litre price of petrol is tax, to the Exchequer.

For petrol the tax is currently 50.35p per litre fuel duty(due to go up 2p/litre 1.10.2008) plus 16.52p VAT making 66.87p per litre in total, or 60.3% of the 110.9p total price.

For diesel it's higher. 50.35p per litre fuel duty(again to go up 2p/litre 1.10.2008) plus 18p VAT making  68.35p per litre in total. From the latest SMMT April registration figures diesel fuelled vehicles now make up approaching 50% of all vehicles.

See Telegraph report today on UK highest fuel tax: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/fair_deal_for_drivers/1942640/UK-drivers-pay-highest-fuel-taxes-in-Europe.html  - their stated figure of 57p tax per litre of petrol is wrong. Is 10p higher!

The fuel duty tax must be cut, now.

 

 

Be careful what you wish for because you may get it.

If that amount of taxation revenue goes then it will need to be replaced - to replace the loss you will be looking at income tax increases undoubtedly. And you can forget that - most of us are already nailed to the floor with direct and indirect taxation in one way or another. I reckon that direct and indirect taxation are responsible for the loss of approx 70% of my net income every month.

What people should do is take responsibility for themselves and get away if at all possible - clear off somewhere else as quick as possible. This country is dying on it's botty and it's time to abandon ship and as much as I dislike some of JJB's** anti-establishment agenda - the sentiment behind it is something that I agree with. The contempt in which we are all held by the powers that be is evident in every form of day to life in the UK.

And there is no alternative any more. Cameron won't repeal any of the nonsense Labour put on the statute book - he can't even give a straight answer on the 10p tax outrage or put in place policy ideas for anything he is questioned about. It all very well being 'outraged of Eton' but what's he going to do?

We are off later this year - we cannot continue to watch our standard of living slide and more importantly - we cannot stand by passively and watch the land of our fathers - paid for in blood, sweat and tears - slowly fall to her knees. It's too distressing to those who love her. 

**Note to JJB - this is not an excuse to flood this thread with loads of cut and pasted stuff about what I've just said and just because I said that I might agree with your sentiment it does not mean we will be showering together and placing talc in each others' cracks after to absorb moistness from our shared use of the shower that did not happen.

Just so we are clear.
 

Hilarious post. Too funny. Agree with you Scummy. A lot of people are leaving. Which country are you going to ?

James Read:

Hilarious post. Too funny. Agree with you Scummy. A lot of people are leaving. Which country are you going to ?

NZ or possibly Aus now.

I cannot change anything and I have now accepted that. I can go on living here with all it entails - the breakdown of civilised society in many places - the rising price of everything - inept local and national government - crime - threats of terrorism etc or I can do something about it that I do have an element of control over and make an informed choice to go somewhere of my choosing and make a life more acceptable.

IMO - I cannot do that here at this time. It might change in the future but what could happen to precipitate such a change would need to be massive.

IMO - the sooner people who pay the most but take the least wake up to this and do what we are doing realise that this is the only power they have left - then the sooner that massive change in the way we are governed may take place. Or they'll simply replace us with people who are happy to be anywhere other than where they lived in the world originally.

Either way - it's the only 'power' I have left. Whinging achieves nothing - it does not make me feel better because it simply makes me think about the crudness around me.

I'm a little surprised at all this tax furore over fuel duty. When i was lecturing at the University of Teesside ten years ago I was explaining this to my wide eyed students even then.

 The British motorist has been regarded as a cash cow by both the prevailing government of the time and the auto industry. Ford and GM used to rely on profits from the UK to prop up their piss poor US industry. Look at the comparative prices for the obvious answers.

 The government knows us Brits are wedded to our cars (and look at our motorsport history compared to any other country). To keep us in our cars and put billions into the pockets of big business our 'public transport' was privatised. So its now really private transport. Thus the government has ensured its cash cow for the foreseeable future.

The fuel protests of 2000 highlighted people had had enough at that point. So the government was struggling to find a 'legitimate' means of continued tax rape. Enter the environmental lobby. Hurrah! Governemnt is saved again! The prices can rise - so automatically increasing the tax take - and they can blame someone else. Always important for an incumbant government. The most important thing to remember is that:

 the last thing the government wants is for British motorists to stop using their cars.

 It would spell catastrpohe for the UK budget. Thats why the price of transport via bus or train is rising rapidly. They are fleecing those now fiscally compelled to travel by 'public transport'. Most of what we pay in taxation as motorists is paying for a bloody great raft of NHS improvements and new schools. Luckily for us these have been largely commissioned through PFI. Which means they are more expensive and give less service than if they had been left in the public sector. They are put through as PFIs because they are then 'off the books'. that is they are not included as debt/liability in the budget. Cyclops has been doing this for a decade in the name of 'prudence' (sic). So we now have something approaching half a trillion of debt to private companies whose first priority is to make a profit NOT provide a service. This debt still has to be serviced.

This is sort of reason why you cannot expect any respite in tax burden. In fact the likelihood is that taxation, both direct and indirect, will increase significantly. It has to because it looks like our mighty leader has screwed the whole bloody country with his sub prime behaviour at the exchequer.

Gordon Brown wants you to drive your car. A lot.

 

Alastair Inglis:

They are put through as PFIs because they are then 'off the books'. that is they are not included as debt/liability in the budget. Cyclops has been doing this for a decade in the name of 'prudence' (sic). So we now have something approaching half a trillion of debt to private companies whose first priority is to make a profit NOT provide a service. This debt still has to be serviced.

This is the reason why David Cameron and the Conservatives cannot commit themselves to any fiscal changes as they won't know the full extent of the debt that "the-best-Chancellor-we've-ever-had"-Gordon-Brown has saddled future governments with for the next 25 or 30 years. PFI is a huge con perpetrated on the public in the name of improved service and facilities and the kindest thing you can say is that Gordon thought he was being prudent and is just not clever enough to understand the implications; the unkind thing to say is that he knew exactly what he was doing and synically saddled future governments with the massive unprecedented debt so that they would have only limited room for fiscal manoeuvre and thus the chance to change his "reforms". Given his record on making changes that apply from a future date or are retrospective, I think you can guess which option I think will prove true in future.

And this is why the UK is on it's a ss.

Some of you might think it'll be better under Cameron but all that will happen is the 'essential' public services that are seriously underfunded and badly run now will be cut and sent to the private sector for more mismanagement and further fleecing of the taxpayers. Public/private partnerships are a euphemism for 'we can't afford to run it anymore so we'll give it to someone who can't run it either but will have the franchise for a bit longer than we can expect to be in power thus allowing us to blame someone else for the *** up'.

Wake up - we're fcuked - if you are in your thirties now - UK PLC will still be accounting for successive governments p iss poor management of it's economic affairs when you are in your sixties and drawing what little pension you've managed to scrimp and scrape for.

The price of petrol and CO2 emmisions are the least of our worries. 

Get as far away while you have the chance. The British are likely to be considered trash in every country worth emigrating to in a few years.

Thanks for the article Loather - good post. Good posts from Alistair and OB too.

Measure Gordon bankrupt Browns "safe pair of hands" from any angle and it's crystal clear all he's done is funded huge increases in the obesity of government and its spending by burdening the countries citizens with higher taxation with no material benefits delivered. This destroys peoples standards of living (as Scummy posts, he estimates 70% of his earnings disappear in direct and indirect taxation).

Nu Labour have spent £billions, and extra £billions but little or no material benefit has got to end-users. A number of posters have written to Government to see where their CO2 car taxes (raising nearly £800M extra per annum) have gone to improve the enviroment? None of them have been given an answer. This is a deceiptful tax for a deceiptful purpose - a tax to shore up both Bankrupt Browns crumbling books and government binging.

And all 3 political Parties have an un-written 'Gentlemans Agreement' (spivs deceipt of the public they purport to represent) not to reduce tax or cut the obese size of  government. The cancerous burden of governments growth has no mechanism for the public to fight back. Government need only 'justify' a tax rise or new tax (legalised financial rape) of peoples income, pensions and bank accounts with flimsy excuses, half-truths or in the climate case, complete lies.

This is not democracy. This is a cancer. The sooner we start fighting it the sooner we get rid of these spivs.

  

Did anyone else hear the awesome researcher who on discussing his transport research on Radio 4's Today programme made a statement to the effect the British road users hadn't been paying for the upkeep of the road network and had to face the fact that to bring things up to scratch they were going to have to pay for it.

 What left me staggered was that no one on the prog picked up on the blindingly bloody obvious. Road Fund Licence anyone???????

JJBoxster:

Thanks for the article Loather - good post. Good posts from Alistair and OB too.

Measure Gordon bankrupt Browns "safe pair of hands" from any angle and it's crystal clear all he's done is funded huge increases in the obesity of government and its spending by burdening the countries citizens with higher taxation with no material benefits delivered. This destroys peoples standards of living (as Scummy posts, he estimates 70% of his earnings disappear in direct and indirect taxation).

Nu Labour have spent £billions, and extra £billions but little or no material benefit has got to end-users. A number of posters have written to Government to see where their CO2 car taxes (raising nearly £800M extra per annum) have gone to improve the enviroment? None of them have been given an answer. This is a deceiptful tax for a deceiptful purpose - a tax to shore up both Bankrupt Browns crumbling books and government binging.

And all 3 political Parties have an un-written 'Gentlemans Agreement' (spivs deceipt of the public they purport to represent) not to reduce tax or cut the obese size of  government. The cancerous burden of governments growth has no mechanism for the public to fight back. Government need only 'justify' a tax rise or new tax (legalised financial rape) of peoples income, pensions and bank accounts with flimsy excuses, half-truths or in the climate case, complete lies.

This is not democracy. This is a cancer. The sooner we start fighting it the sooner we get rid of these spivs.

  

 

You can't fight what you can't quantify and that's how they get away with it therefore it's time to leave the mugs who can put up with it and get off to somewhere more condusive to a better way of life. There is no point getting angry. See a politician and have a go at him - you are likely to be arrested under the Terrorism Act as happened to a Labout Party activist several years ago after he heckled Straw - don't need that hassle so what's the point?

I subscibe - fully - to the notion of law and order. I subscribe to the notion of an independent judiciary and our system of governance that takes the will of people and governs on that basis - I cannot live somewhere where the government of the day does not recognise this and undermines it for party political ends. Nobody stopped it so the Conservatives will simply carry this contempt on.

You will not be overturning the system of 'democracy' we have because people are stupid and apathetic. The sheep in the middle don't give a toss JJB - they are more concerned about Jack Duckworth and Ant and Dec than the issues of the day. The politicians know this and act with inpunity and without oversight. 

I've given up listening to anyone from government - they are not relevent to me or my family anymore. I cannot think of a more damning inditement of my countries governance.

I love Great Britain but I cannot live with Great Britain - one day perhaps my view will change but until that day I will have to admire from afar. Perhaps absence will make the heart grow fonder and make me realise that there are worse places to be - somehow I doubt it though. 

 

 

If we got rid of about 75% of Politicians (atleast) and their 'hangers on', we'd have pots of cash.

Those Politicians that are made redundant would be employed on road gangs, on thier wages, for up to a year, to earn their redundancy payments. Then those payments will be taxed at the same rate as the current fuel taxation rate.

We don't need idle talkers in Government. We need those subordinates to know their place, shut up and do their jobs.

Wishful thinking I know.............

loather:

...of the current £110.9/litre price of petrol

oops! Sorry! Should have been 110.9p/litre. Duly scolded myself.

Then again with the way the central banks are cranking up the printing presses, who knows? Litre of petrol £100 in 2012? Maybe it was sub-conscious prescience rather than a typo!