Reply from my MP - re: FairFuel e-petition

[shakotan]

You may be aware of the FairFuel campaign, and the recent e-petition which gained sufficient votes to make it eligable for Commons debate. Well, apparent [no big surprise], gaining the 100,000 signatures counts for nothing, as the Backbenchers have simply said there is no time to have the debate, so they wont.

FairFuel then set up a mailing method to contact your local MP and have them make demands on our behalf to have the debate held.

This morning, this dropped onto my doormat, from my consituent Conservative MP, Jonathan Lord.

I don't even know where to start hacking it to peices...

Jonathan Lord said:

Dear Shakotan,

Thank you for contacting me about the high cost of fuel. I fully appreciated how expensive fuel is in the UK. High fuel prices are largely the result of the high price of oil internationally and this inevitably leads to inflated costs on the forecourt. It puts a great deal of strain on all of us and does little to help our economic recovery.

To help address this, the Government annouced measures to help mitigate the effects. It has cut the main duty rate by 1 pence in April this year and introduced a fair fuel stabiliser.

You may remember that the previous Labour Government introduced a fuel duty escalator which involved seven fuel duty increases. Three had already taken place at the time of the Budget, adding over 3 pence to the price of petrol. There would also have been another increase of over 5 pence per litre in April 2011.

Due to high oil prices, the escalator has been cancelled and all duty increases this year have been delayed. This has been paid for by an increase in tax on oil and gas producing companies, who are making unexpected profits on oil prices that are far higher than those they based their investment decisions on. In addition, the fuel stabiliser means that while oil prices are high, fuel duty will increase by inflation alone, and if the oil price falls below a set level on a sustained basis, the Government will increase fuel duty above inflation.

The overall effect of these measures means that by 2015-2016, pump prices could be approxiamtely 6.7p per litre lower than under the fuel duty escalator.

I understand that the Fair Fuel e-petition on the Government's main website has now reached more than 100,000 signatures. Any e-petition that gathers this support could be debated in the House of Commons. Having made some enquiries, I gather that the House of Common's Backbench Business Committee has reviewed the request but unfortunately there is insufficient time over the next month to have a debate. However, the Committee has not ruled out a debate in the future and I am sure that they are very aware of the importance of this topic.

Thank you again for contacting me.

Your sincerely,

Jonathan Lord MP

[Uhura fighter]

Strat in 1993 and work from their.

[shakotan]

Uhura fighter said:

Strat in 1993 and work from their.

Exactly, needless to say he's getting a reply!

[steviegunn]

How about:

Darling fascist bully-boy... Give me some cheap petrol... You bd... May the seed of your loins be fruitful in the belly of your woman... Shakotan.

[kiteless]

Uhura fighter said:

Strat in 1993 and work from their.

1993 Strats are lovely things:



Not sure if it'll help the cause, though.

[martin84]

Knobhead MP said:

High fuel prices are largely the result of the high price of oil internationally and this inevitably leads to inflated costs on the forecourt.

No its not. The actual petrol is around 49p a litre. Thats not 'largely' due to oil, thats not even half due to oil, let alone the majority of the price being anything to do with oil.

Knobhead MP then said:

'blah blah blah...Labour's fault...blah blah...no time for anything...blah blah...Labours fault...blah...Gordon Brown...Labour...all their fault...blah blah.'

With the coalition 18 months old now isnt it time to stop blaming Labour for everything? We want action and results, not excuses and blame.

I also find it very patronising that these MP's think we cant see that the pump price isnt due to oil prices but is because of their tax.

[martin84]

Gaz. said:

It's going to take a very long time to sort labour's fk ups, if that isn't what you want to hear then you may want to live off the grid for the next 10 years because it's all you're going to hear.

Thats still not good enough. 'Its all Labour's fault' wont be enough by 2015 because the electorate will just say 'well you've done fk all to fix it why should i vote for you?' its getting almost painfully boring that every interview with a Conservative MP includes the obligatory line '....inherited from the last Labour Government' or '....the mess created by Labour' nobody cares anymore and the public is sick of hearing it.

If they keep convincing themselves they dont need to do anything and blaming it on Labour will be enough so they can sit back, have some biscuits and relax they're sadly mistaken. 'Dont have enough time for fuel debate' my arse. The reality is it nets £25billion and they dont want to put it down so they give the obligatory spin of 'Oil Prices' to deflect attention away from said £25billion duty (plus another £3billion in VAT, much of it bonkers as its charged on the tax).

Do they really think we're stupid enough to not see that we have some of the worlds most expensive fuel? Do they think we cant look at American prices, do the maths and go 'theirs is a lot cheaper' or something? Do they think we dont have Google and that we cant discover the fuel is really only 49p a litre? If they were at least honest and blunt and said 'we need the money, its mostly made up of tax but we cant afford to put it down yet' then i'd probably have more respect for them but to fob us off with 'oil prices' is just patronising.

[NoNeed]

I thought the fuel price escalator was a conservative thing that labour had to end due to the fuel protests.

[RemainAllHoof]

But oil has gone up in price in the last three years!!!

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CL_/M?antic...

See it's gone up from 150 to 90.

[Happy82]

RemainAllHoof said:

But oil has gone up in price in the last three years!!!

http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/CL_/M?antic...

See it's gone up from 150 to 90.

Makes sense that petrol prices are high then seeing as oil prices have shot down, OP should congratulate his MP on his impressive research

[Loominarty]

martin84 said:

Oil prices may be 'higher than ever' but thats not why petrol is £1.35 a litre. The UK's pre-tax fuel is actually a very good deal as we engineer ourselves a good deal on it but then the Governments boney fingers get near it and make it expensive.

Taxed to DEATH. THATS US.....

A little light reading......

1. 10 Algeria: Algiers – 20p per litre

Algeria is one of the Africa’s biggest oil producers turning out an average of 1.2 million barrels a day. This flood of oil has pushed down petrol prices in the country to 20p per litre, more than six times cheaper than the average pump price here in the UK.
The countries petrol supplies also played a vital role in the recent battle against Colonel Gaddafi in neighbouring Libya.With petrol production in the war-torn country running dry, rebel fighters relied on smuggled fuel from Algeria to power the final push against the corrupt dictator. Hurrah!

1. 9 Oman: Muscat – 20p per litre

Oman’s petrol prices also stand at just 20p per litre. Like Algeria, the Arabic state is drenched in oil, stepping up production in the last six months to 878,000 barrels every day.

1. 8 Egypt: Cairo – 19p per litre

Egypt is something of a transport hub when it comes to petrol. The Suez Canal – a vital supply line running across the east of the country – carries an estimated one million barrels of oil from the Persian Gulf every day.
That’s why at the peak of the countries revolution against President Hosni Mubarak, oil prices began to climb, amid fears that the unrest would interfere with the Suez supply route.
But while this oil price rise pushes up petrol costs here in the UK, the rate petrol is sold at the pump over in Egypt remains relatively low, at just 19p per litre. But with the country's government still anything but stable, it’s anyone guess as to how long costs will stay this cheap.

1. 7 Qatar: Doha – 15p per litre

Prior to the discovery of oil in Qatar, the small Arab emirates’ economy was mainly built on fishing and pearl hunting. Now the country’s national petroleum supplier accounts for 70% of the government’s revenue. Recent high oil prices have made per capita income in Qatar amongst the highest across the globe while petrol prices are the seventh lowest at just 15p per litre.

1. 6 Kuwait: Kuwait City – 14p per litre

Kuwait is tenth largest oil producer in the world and its supply is thought to account for 10% of global reserves. But nevertheless, the government subsidises both public transport and petrol bringing prices down to just 14p per litre.

1. 5 Bahrain: Manama – 13p per litre

Compared its Middle-Eastern neighbours, Bahrain has fairly limited oil supplies. However 60% of the country’s economy is still rooted in petroleum refining, which has grown strongly over the last ten years. The country is at fifth in the rankings with an average petrol price of just 13p per litre.

1. 4 Turkmenistan: Ashgabat – 12p per litre

The UK government taxes petrol to the high-heaven, while in Turkmenistan they give it away – literally. Every driver in the Turkic state is entitled to 120 litres of petrol for free every month. If they exceed this, the pump price is only 12p per litre.

1. 3 Libya: Tripoli – 9p per litre

As I mentioned earlier, petrol supplies in Libya have dried up recently owing to the closure of several oil plants in the midst of unrest in the country. But when pumping at its prime level, the country is the ninth largest oil producer with an average petrol price of just 9p per litre.

1. 2 Saudi Arabia: Riyadh – 8p per litre

Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of petroleum in the world. Domestically fuel prices sit at around 8p per litre. Yet only half of the population can take advantage of these low rates; as women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving due to a religious fatwa (Islamic law) imposed by conservative Muslim clerics.

1. 1 Venezuela: Caracas – 2/3p per litre

Yes, to get hold of the cheapest petrol in the world, you’ll have to travel all the way to the South American country of Venezuela. Petrol is just 2-3p per litre in the socialist republic – that’s around 54 times cheaper than prices here in the UK. So if you have a 70 litre fuel tank in your car, you could fill it up in Venezuela for around £1.50. While In Britain it would cost you a whopping £95.

...................... Anyone around here not think that like the big rabbit we're getting proper fked ? ..................

.....and what do we do about it in an attempt to protect our enthusiasms ?

We attempt to earn more or... pretend we actually are while stting ourselves over the remortgage or.... drive less and brag more or... downsize the motor or sell her jewelry.
Anything but fight. Pussies.

Edited by Loominarty on Sunday 30th October 01:33

[RemainAllHoof]

Happy82 said:

Makes sense that petrol prices are high then seeing as oil prices have shot down, OP should congratulate his MP on his impressive research

It would be funny except every fkwit in power who is interviewed in the media comes up with the usual ignorant line "oil prices are higher than ever".

[Bing o]

It's a bit sad when your elected MP just blatantly lies to you.

5th November is coming...

[martin84]

NoNeed said:

I thought the fuel price escalator was a conservative thing that labour had to end due to the fuel protests.

Almost. The Conservative's implimented the escalator in 1993 but one of the first things Labour did in 1997 was raise it and after the duty rise of 1999 is when we all went off our rocker and after the 2000 protests is when it was officially scrapped.

However that didnt stop Labour lumping extra duty on the fuel whenever they felt like it, usually listed as 'environmental measures' in the budget. Its interesting when VAT was cut to 15%, petrol duty went up to make sure everything in Britain became cheaper - except fuel.

It should be pointed out that in 1993 when the escalator first came in, oil was rolling out at about $10 a barrel and you could argue there was scope to take advantage of it for Treasury revenue gain but that window has passed now in my view and its no longer a viable practice.

Oil prices may be 'higher than ever' but thats not why petrol is £1.35 a litre. The UK's pre-tax fuel is actually a very good deal as we engineer ourselves a good deal on it but then the Governments boney fingers get near it and make it expensive.

The thing which gets on peoples nerves is when a Peston comes on BBC and says 'oil prices set to rise' garages like my local one jacks the price up by about 40 quid a fluid ounce but when the oil falls, even after a few weeks it hasnt gone down.

[Silver Smudger]

martin84 said:

The reality is it nets £25billion and they dont want to put it down so they give the obligatory spin of 'Oil Prices' to deflect attention away from said £25billion duty

In what form do you wish to pay this tax?

The money will need to be removed from our pocket in some way, unless you think they should just spend £25bn less on the country and let us keep it?

[12gauge]

I thought Ken Clarke Introduced it and labour Scrapped it.

In 1979 we had the lowest fuel duty in the EU, in 1997 the highest, thanks to Thatchers change from direct to indirect taxation methods.

Tories maybe a lot of things, a friend to the motorist they are not. All councillors around here campaigning against parking fees are actually libdems.

[powerstroke]

Silver Smudger said:

martin84 said:

The reality is it nets £25billion and they dont want to put it down so they give the obligatory spin of 'Oil Prices' to deflect attention away from said £25billion duty

In what form do you wish to pay this tax?

The money will need to be removed from our pocket in some way, unless you think they should just spend £25bn less on the country and let us keep it?

The answer yet again is the EUs fault!!! both in what we pay in and what they force on us!!!
red tape and the drain of having thousands economicly inactive on benifits while at the same time we export our wealth to poland etc by employing migrant workers we canot stop due to free movement of labour, no wonder the books wont ballence and fuel and other tax is crippling

Edited by powerstroke on Sunday 30th October 06:38

[LimaDelta]

Only 100,000 signtures for a commons debate?

So around 98.4% of the population either:

a) Don't care strongly enough to sign, or
b) Think the fuel price is fair

There is your answer.

[JagLover]

Bing o said:

It's a bit sad when your elected MP just blatantly lies to you.

5th November is coming...

Perhaps you could indicate the lie in the reply?

The first fuel escalator was indeed a Tory measure, the rate increased by Labour, then scrapped after fuel protests.

They then brought in a new escalator and under this duty was indeed going to rise considerably in April 2011, but instead the new government cut the duty by 1p.

[thinfourth2]

LimaDelta said:

Only 100,000 signtures for a commons debate?

So around 98.4% of the population either:

a) Don't care strongly enough to sign, or
b) Think the fuel price is fair

There is your answer.

I haven't signed it because i believe its a total waste of time that will be totally ignored as it goes against government policy of arse raping the motorist