Taxi Driver Online

Coalition Fuels Inflation


The new year sees more pain at the pumps for drivers, with rises in fuel duty and VAT adding around 4p to the cost of a litre of petrol or diesel.


The Asssociation of British Drivers (ABD) recalls the words of Prime Minister David Cameron before the General Election, on how the previous government had hammered drivers with various taxes. He added that that his party had got to do things very differently and make life easier for families facing sky-high motoring bills. [1]


He even indicated that he could help families by cutting fuel taxes when global fuel prices rise.


ABD Chairman Brian Gregory remarked: "Fuel tax increases don't just hurt the driver and our hard-pressed haulage industry, they will be reflected in price rises at the shops for everyone." [2]


The ABD calls on the government to cancel above-inflation rises set for the next three years, instead cutting out waste, for instance in environmental projects that will not yield practical benefits.


ABD spokesman Nigel Humphries added "In 2010, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond committed to ending the war on the motorist and paid tribute to the fact that 84 percent of all journeys in the UK are made by car. It would be a fitting New Year's resolution to invest more of the billions taken from drivers in things that they actually want, like decent road surfaces and ensuring adequate gritting." [3]


ENDS

Notes for Editors


[1] Mike Rutherford interview, 29.4.10,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7652239/David-Cameron-I-will-be-a-friend-of-the-motorist.html

[2] Freight Transport Association chief economist Simon Chapman, quoted in the Evening Standard, 30.9.10,

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23883437-pain-at-the-pumps-for-drivers-as-transport-chiefs-raise-prices.do


By coincidence, Local Government Secretary, Eric Pickles recently commented (on parking charges): 21.12.10, "I know how every penny makes a difference when families pay for their weekly shop.... Hiking charges and turning motorists into a cash cow is a false economy - as it drives shoppers away".

http://conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2010/12/eric-pickles-cancels-new-parking-tax-on-weekly-shop.html#tp


[3] Speech 10.9.10,

http://www.dft.gov.uk/press/speechesstatements/speeches/hammond20100910

http://www.taxpayersalliance.com/home/2010/12/taxpayers-alliance-reveals-council-spending-emergency-road-salt.html


Philip Davies MP drew attention to the anomaly whereby the UK was paying for building roads in Poland, but unable to fund domestic needs, 4.6.10,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1283867/Brussels-bid-claw-3bn-rebate-MPs-outraged-Thatchers-legacy-threatened.html

'The system is a joke. 'All this money we provide goes to pay for infrastructure abroad like new roads in Poland when we can't afford to pay for our own roads in Britain'.

Taxes on drivers were reckoned in the region of £45-£50 Bn a year before the 2011 rises, and each extra penny in tax raises the pain to drivers by another £500 million a year.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23910365-drivers-facing-new-fuel-price-hikes.do

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

so Labour didnt introduce any fuel duty rises in thier time in charge?....

They probably did......but Labour isnt in charge now.

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Unveiling the party's manifesto for a fourth term in office, the Prime Minister and senior colleagues repeatedly declined to give a promise not to increase VAT from 17.5 per cent during the next Parliament. Instead, Labour's manifesto only ruled out extending the scope of VAT, pledging that it would not be levied on items such as children's clothes, public transport and newspapers.

Economists said that "left the door wide open" to tax rises after the election.

Each percentage point increase in VAT costs consumers a total of £4.5 billion, equal to £180 a year for every household.

A VAT rise of two and half per cent to 20 per cent, for example, would cost each household more than £450 a year.



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/electio ... abour.html

1896 - In 1896 when the Conservative prime minister the Marquess of Salisbury was in charge a gallon of petrol cost 9d with no fuel duty.

1909 - In 1909 fuel duty was introduced by the Liberal government led by Herbert Henry Asquith. A gallon of petrol cost 13d including 21.4% fuel duty.

1919 - Although petrol prices rose to 38d in 1919 (16% of that included fuel duty), the British government - under a coalition led by Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George- replaced it with road tax.

1929 - Fuel duty returned in 1929 under the Conservative government led by Stanley Baldwin. A gallon cost 19d including 21% fuel duty.

1998 - Under the first Labour government led by Ramsay McDonald fuel duty per gallon of petrol rocketed up to 45% and slowly reached its peak of 83% under Labour in 1998.

1980 - Interestingly fuel duty was only at 45% in 1980 when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of the Conservative government but it really gathered pace during the John Major/Tony Blair governments when anything over 70% was the norm.

2010 - Currently, the average unleaded petrol price is 121.9p per litre - 62% of that is fuel duty. Labour is planning to increase that by another penny in October and a further penny January.

The original post was not a political one......however, the google searches you provide seem to prove a point that all political parties are to blame.

That aside, lets see if you feel the same way come 4th January......when another 2.5% goes on our fuel. No doubt you will still blame Labour.

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

im vat regd, so i get the fuel vat back, and will charge extra anyway...

With 1p increase on fuel duty the Government make an extra £2million a day, add in all the other extras and I bet it's touching £5million a day extra.

_________________
Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.

Believe me, don't get Mercury X2

Good for you. Most of us are not and wont......but I bet those PH circuits out there will put their rentals up.

That aside......when fuel goes up many things outside the scope of VAT will increase.

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

i hear tell of how much hacks are taking, theres nothing to stop anyone registering for vat, they can reclaim the output vat on vehicle rentals, repairs, fuel, settle (if you get a reciept) and a host of things, unless they are bullshitting, which no-one does do they....

under labour we had the biggest ever increases in stealth/indirect taxation, as you know

Are hackney carriages not considered to be public transport?

_________________
Grandad,

Only when it suits.

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Typical!

_________________
Grandad,

Which accounts for zero......I dont know if you noticed.....Labour are not in power......perhaps your beloved government will now right all the wrongs of the previous government?

I wont hold my breath though.

CC

_________________
Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

I think people have the wrong idea about Government. They seem to think that the party who is in charge of running the country. The country is run by the civil servants who write up the laws. They may be influenced by the party of the day but I doubt that it goes much further than that. The parties just debate the issues.

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Grandad,