Genuinely poor people can't afford a car anyway, regardless of how much petrol costs. They're also the ones who feel the worst effects of excessive car use.
OK - we need more poor people?!
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Why is the price of petrol so high?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Price the poor people off the road yeah!
I used to live in the shittiest area of Reading, averaged at least one drugs bust a week and invariably there'd be a murder every month.
Yet:
Every house had a minimum of 2 cars parked outside.
There were enough bad drivers to make Northumberland Road to be the set for Roadwars (one of those police, camera, action programs).So in conclusion, poor people are still driving, and doing it very badly.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Isn't it because the value of the £ against the $ is so low so although the price of a barrel is half what it was the last time fuel prices were so high, the buying power of UK suppliers is much reduced.
Posted 2 years ago # -
1. Gordon Brown - Tax and waste policies
2. Save the planet crowd - global warming (lets ignore the fact that the UK is responsible for less than 2% of the world green house gasses)
3. Price the poor on to public transport to free the roads for the wealthyPosted 2 years ago # -
capitalism
we pay what the market thinks we can afford
if you have a problem you can always move to cuba
Posted 2 years ago # -
Increase the cost of cigarettes by ooohh, 200%, then put the extra revenue that generates in to reducing fuel costs. Or, try charging reasonable amounts for public transport. 290 odd quid if I wanted to go to London today from newcastle. I don't know how they have the nerve to charge that. Plus, that doesn't even get you a reserved seat.
Posted 2 years ago # -
According to the Labour minister on the news this morning, it's due to "greedy retailers".
Which is funny because the wholesale cost of petrol is around 39p a litre. The government then takes another 75p a litre in Fuel Duty, VAT at 20% and Corporation tax on any profit the retailer makes. Which leaves the retailer making 2-3p (at most per litre).
So, the government takes 50 x more than the retailer does but apparently it's the retailer's fault. There's New Labour logic for you - no wonder the economy is foobarred.
Posted 2 years ago # -
if you want to kill off the car as a form for transport - make petrol cheaper.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Save the planet crowd - global warming (lets ignore the fact that the UK is responsible for less than 2% of the world green house gasses)
You say that like it's a good thing. We're a TINY ISLAND with just 0.91% of the world's population, yet we contribute 2% of greenhouse gases.
Posted 2 years ago # -
if you want to kill off the car as a form for transport - make petrol cheaper.
very true
Posted 2 years ago # -
FarmerJohn you're not totally right...the tax has increased but so has the 'non-tax' element.
http://www.petrolprices.com/fuel-tax.html
Also does anyone know why there fuel is always cheaper in the North?
Posted 2 years ago # -
if you want to kill off the car as a form for transport - make petrol cheaper.
Because the roads would be completely gridlocked? Or because oil would run out faster?
Either way you'd also screw road haulage and buses.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Which leaves the retailer making 2-3p (at most per litre).
Well near me the price at the pump ranges from £1.20 down to £1.14 so there's a few pence extra for a retailer or wholesaler in the pricier stations.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Oh and in answer to the original question...because countries are stockpiling it thereby influencing the market?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_strategic_petroleum_reserves
Posted 2 years ago # -
Also does anyone know why there fuel is always cheaper in the North?
The northern price reflects that northerners are generaly less affluent therefore less able to pay high prices. The southern ones are just making 4p a litre more.
Also, where this £1.14-£1.20 a litre coming from? Its 112.9 in Reading, and that was just the first place I passed today (on my bike).
Posted 2 years ago # -
It's definitely 114-117p per litre in Worcestershire...maybe Reading is less affluent.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The northern price reflects that northerners are generaly less affluent therefore less able to pay high prices. The southern ones are just making 4p a litre more.
Also, where this £1.14-£1.20 a litre coming from? Its 112.9 in Reading
How far north do I need to go for the cheap petrol then?
Looking on http://www.petrolprices.com/ I can currently see 111.9p to 119.9p near my house (Northumberland) and a range of 113.9p to 122.9p near work (Rosyth).
Posted 2 years ago # -
Okay it was a sweeping generalisation based on my recent move from Yorkshire to Worcestershire and past experiences...but there are quite extreme regional variations.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Ironically Rosyth is near a huge refinery so distribution costs should be cheaper
Posted 2 years ago # -
Also, where this £1.14-£1.20 a litre coming from?
IIRC the high price is at station on the A246 on the Effingham side of Bookham.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Not sure about petrol but diesel was an impressive £1.26 / litre at some services on the M4.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I can do the round trip to my parents house (380 ish miles) on a £40 tank of petrol. How is that not good value for money?
Depends on what your parents are like, doesn't it?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Around glasgow it's ~1.15 for D.
We're a TINY ISLAND with just 0.91% of the world's population, yet we contribute 2% of greenhouse gases.
That's not bad, considering a very large percentage of the world are not industrialised and bearly have a roof over their head.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Or is bad if you consider that if we halved the global population then we'd still be in exactly the same trouble if they all lived like us.
Actually much ,much worse trouble, as other resource consumption like water and food, would become a major issue.
We live outside our means, and can only afford to do so because we allow the rest of the world to be poor.
Posted 2 years ago # -
then find someone who voted Labour last time around, and give them a good, hard slap.
I voted labour. Want to come and slap me? I'll give a good account of myself.
So, the government takes 50 x more than the retailer does but apparently it's the retailer's fault. There's New Labour logic for you - no wonder the economy is foobarred
Do we have to explain this yet again? The government takes money, and then spends it back on running the country. Tory governments do this too to a pretty similar extent. Anyone who thinks there's a fundamental ideological difference between the current Labour and Tories has absolutely no idea about politics.
Every party will cock things up. Guaranteed. It's just that the set of problems will shift *slightly* - that's it. No party is a complete disaster or a buch of gifted geniuses. People just complain like hell about every government because they are mostly small-minded and greedy.
Ironically Rosyth is near a huge refinery so distribution costs should be cheaper
Only if petrol were sold on a cost plus basis at individual sites, which it clearly isn't
Posted 2 years ago # -
and can only afford to do so because we allow the rest of the world to be poor.
No, we make them poor, it's not their choice
Posted 2 years ago # -
why are the prices of houses so high?
Posted 2 years ago # -
more importantly why are the prices of mountainbikes so high
i could put petrol in my car for 5 years for the price of a decent bike!
Posted 2 years ago #
Topic Closed
This topic has been closed to new replies.
