Fuel price protest idea. Not the normal spam...
Discussion
Fuel Price Idea...
So fuel prices are soaring and the Government really don't seem to care, despite the cost of fuel having an affect on the cost of everything somewhere along the line. Various ideas have been kicked around and tried over the years, some successful, refinery blockades, some plain stupid, don't buy a certain brand of fuel, etc.
Even the successful ones have been reversed and we are paying record highs. I wouldn't mine if it was down to the cost of crude but of the £71 (seventy f
king one quid... 
) I put in my Volvo this morning, £44.02 by my calculations went directly to the Government.
After getting up in a bad mood anyway (I'd forgotten 6.20am even existed... ) I mulled this over on the way to work and came up with the following idea. I have my local MP's email address so I decided to email him to let him know how much I had contributed to the Government coffer's this morning. And I shall keep him updated throughout the year...
I don't know if this falls into the stupid or inspired idea bucket, but it is something.
Anybody else want to join in? Just maybe if they all start getting emails telling them how much we are chipping in, they might start taking notice. Whether they do anything, if they take notice is another subject entirely...
ETA: For some dubious iPhone typing.
So fuel prices are soaring and the Government really don't seem to care, despite the cost of fuel having an affect on the cost of everything somewhere along the line. Various ideas have been kicked around and tried over the years, some successful, refinery blockades, some plain stupid, don't buy a certain brand of fuel, etc.
Even the successful ones have been reversed and we are paying record highs. I wouldn't mine if it was down to the cost of crude but of the £71 (seventy f
king one quid... ) I put in my Volvo this morning, £44.02 by my calculations went directly to the Government. After getting up in a bad mood anyway (I'd forgotten 6.20am even existed... ) I mulled this over on the way to work and came up with the following idea. I have my local MP's email address so I decided to email him to let him know how much I had contributed to the Government coffer's this morning. And I shall keep him updated throughout the year...
I don't know if this falls into the stupid or inspired idea bucket, but it is something.
Anybody else want to join in? Just maybe if they all start getting emails telling them how much we are chipping in, they might start taking notice. Whether they do anything, if they take notice is another subject entirely...
ETA: For some dubious iPhone typing.
Edited by Martin Keene on Tuesday 4th January 17:52
How many miles does that £71 tank get you? I bet that if fuel cost was really that much of an issue for you, you could replace the Volvo with something that goes a lot further on a tank. You shouldn't care what fuel costs per litre... you should care what it costs you per mile.
The less it costs you per mile, the bigger finger you are giving the government. Double win.
The less it costs you per mile, the bigger finger you are giving the government. Double win.
Edited by Mr Gear on Tuesday 4th January 15:22
I have a feeling that their response would be (privately) 'and...? So what...?', and (publically) 'the economy is in a fragile state and this is all necessary blah blah blah'.
It's quite blatant lunacy. The Tories have gone mad and seem to think that the best thing for the economy, when people are losing their jobs, buying less, taking pay cuts and taking stock of depleted finances following the Christmas period is to make everything more expensive because they've just had a look in their own bulging wallets and it seems they'll be OK. The Lib Dems, giddy on power for the first time, can't bring themselves to criticise policies many of them won their seats vocally opposing, and Labour know the policy is bad and oppose it, but know full well that it's their fault the economy's in a bad way in the first place.
And it seems laughable that it seems to be hitting businesses hardest of all. Train tickets and petrol prices have gone up more than anything else, and the VAT rise will make it harder for anyone to sell anything, so by making it harder for you to get to work in the first place, they're going to make it harder for you to do your job once you've got there.
No logic in any of this at all. Then again, what did I expect when the economy is being run by Arnold Rimmer?
It's quite blatant lunacy. The Tories have gone mad and seem to think that the best thing for the economy, when people are losing their jobs, buying less, taking pay cuts and taking stock of depleted finances following the Christmas period is to make everything more expensive because they've just had a look in their own bulging wallets and it seems they'll be OK. The Lib Dems, giddy on power for the first time, can't bring themselves to criticise policies many of them won their seats vocally opposing, and Labour know the policy is bad and oppose it, but know full well that it's their fault the economy's in a bad way in the first place.
And it seems laughable that it seems to be hitting businesses hardest of all. Train tickets and petrol prices have gone up more than anything else, and the VAT rise will make it harder for anyone to sell anything, so by making it harder for you to get to work in the first place, they're going to make it harder for you to do your job once you've got there.
No logic in any of this at all. Then again, what did I expect when the economy is being run by Arnold Rimmer?
In case you hadn't noticed there is a big deficit the government has to cut. If you consider yourself to be in anyway patriotic; stop whinging about it and consider paying the fuel duty as doing your bit to help the country out of it's massive debt.
Edited by plasticpig on Tuesday 4th January 15:28
hombrepaulo said:
Any what will the gubberment do when they convince 95% of the population to switch to electric vehicles? How do they intend to fill the void that fuel duty brings them?
No idea, especially as the things are so expensive they offer you a grant towards the costs of buying the thing in the first place (and where's that coming from? Yep, taxpayer's money. Your hard-earned is going towards helping rich people buy expensive electric cars).
plasticpig said:
In case you hadn't noticed there is a big deficit the government has to cut. If you consider yourself to be in anyway patriotic; stop whinging about it and consider paying the fuel duty as doing your bit to help the country out of it's massive debt.
How does this help?Edited by plasticpig on Tuesday 4th January 15:28
Seriously - if they wanted more money going into the economy they'd be lowering prices and encouraging investment. Raising the price of anything just puts people off spending anything, so you end up with a reduced tax take.
If they were serious about getting large amounts of money hacked out of the deficit they'd go after Vodafone's accountant.
plasticpig said:
In case you hadn't noticed there is a big deficit the government has to cut. If you consider yourself to be in anyway patriotic; stop whinging about it and consider paying the fuel duty as doing you bit to help the country out of it's massive debt.
Ha ha! Or use less fuel and stop whinging. If the OP was saying that he could no longer afford to run his 10 year old Nissan Micra to drag his elderly ass down to the shops, I might have a bit more sympathy.Mr Gear said:
plasticpig said:
In case you hadn't noticed there is a big deficit the government has to cut. If you consider yourself to be in anyway patriotic; stop whinging about it and consider paying the fuel duty as doing you bit to help the country out of it's massive debt.
Ha ha! Or use less fuel and stop whinging. If the OP was saying that he could no longer afford to run his 10 year old Nissan Micra to drag his elderly ass down to the shops, I might have a bit more sympathy.I know there is a huge deficit, and unlike most of this countries MP's I also understand the difference between the deficit an the debt. But I also come from and industry where waste is the enemy and cost reduction is king (engineering) and I would have a lot moe sympathy for the Goverment if they set about reducing the mass of wasted money before screwing Joe Public.
Edited by Martin Keene on Tuesday 4th January 15:44
Martin Keene said:
Mr Gear said:
plasticpig said:
In case you hadn't noticed there is a big deficit the government has to cut. If you consider yourself to be in anyway patriotic; stop whinging about it and consider paying the fuel duty as doing you bit to help the country out of it's massive debt.
Ha ha! Or use less fuel and stop whinging. If the OP was saying that he could no longer afford to run his 10 year old Nissan Micra to drag his elderly ass down to the shops, I might have a bit more sympathy.I know there is a huge deficit, and unlike most of this countries MP's I also understand the difference between the deficit an the debt. But I also come from and industry where waste is the enemy and cost reduction is king (engineering) and I would have a lot moe sympathy for the Goverment if they set about reducing the mass of wasted money before screwing Joe Public.
Edited by Martin Keene on Tuesday 4th January 15:44
Martin Keene said:
Sadly those are exactly the responses I was expecting. This must be the only forum where the primary interest of the forum is getting continually screwed and most peole think it is fine.
I know there is a huge deficit, and unlike most of this countries MP's I also understand the difference between the deficit an the debt. But I also come from and industry where waste is the enemy and cost reduction is king (engineering) and I would have a lot moe sympathy for the Goverment if they set about reducing the mass of wasted money before screwing Joe Public.
I applaud your enthusiasm but the problem is the mechanics in making a successful protest in this country. All types of protest can be filed into one of two categories:I know there is a huge deficit, and unlike most of this countries MP's I also understand the difference between the deficit an the debt. But I also come from and industry where waste is the enemy and cost reduction is king (engineering) and I would have a lot moe sympathy for the Goverment if they set about reducing the mass of wasted money before screwing Joe Public.
1. Illegal - Protest defined as terrorism or treason and protester is locked up and bummed on rocks by angry horses.
2. Pointless - Equivalent to throwing a marshmallow at a rhino. Easily defeated by just ignoring it or waiting for the protesters to surrender to apathy.
Yours falls into #2.
Mr Gear said:
Martin Keene said:
Mr Gear said:
plasticpig said:
In case you hadn't noticed there is a big deficit the government has to cut. If you consider yourself to be in anyway patriotic; stop whinging about it and consider paying the fuel duty as doing you bit to help the country out of it's massive debt.
Ha ha! Or use less fuel and stop whinging. If the OP was saying that he could no longer afford to run his 10 year old Nissan Micra to drag his elderly ass down to the shops, I might have a bit more sympathy.I know there is a huge deficit, and unlike most of this countries MP's I also understand the difference between the deficit an the debt. But I also come from and industry where waste is the enemy and cost reduction is king (engineering) and I would have a lot moe sympathy for the Goverment if they set about reducing the mass of wasted money before screwing Joe Public.
Edited by Martin Keene on Tuesday 4th January 15:44
There are cars out there with 400bhp V8s that average that! (my friend's M3 for one).Think I'll opt out of this protest folks, I've already swapped something averaging 35mpg for something averaging 65mpg.
Road tax drop from £180pa to £30pa.
And I'm doing 4000 miles a year less as well now.
Get it right up you Chancellor.
However, there will be other motorists i.e. those with families who are being priced out of running an average car; for example, the humble 1.8 Mondeo/Vectra etc.
Road tax drop from £180pa to £30pa.
And I'm doing 4000 miles a year less as well now.
Get it right up you Chancellor.
However, there will be other motorists i.e. those with families who are being priced out of running an average car; for example, the humble 1.8 Mondeo/Vectra etc.
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