UK out of petrol
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
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Don't blame the government, blame the end-users who want bigger cars and ,first of all, blame the automobile-industry who don't want to make cars consuming drastically less petrol
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
I filled up on Sunday ... phew! I actually think "right on" and am with the hauliers on this one. I can work at home, so, personally, this is no biggy. The people of the UK have been walked on for far too long, and the UK is turning into an undesirable place to live (and I never thought I would hear myself say that). It's time this government realised that we will only be pushed so far before we say "Enough!". I am sick of paying through the nose for goods and services in this country and it's time to do something about it. The hauliers/farmers who are responsible for the blockades are ensuring that fuel gets out for the emergency services, which is a master stroke as it will ensure public support for at least the next few days. More worrying, however, is the news this morning that the government had plans to implement the 1976 Emergency Powers Act, which means they could use the army at any time... As for other comments on this thread along the lines of "don't blame the government" ... er ... hello! Get real will you! This isn't the USA - we don't drive around in huge gas guzzlers - and why the hell should our European cousins get their fuel any cheaper? Do people realise what this does for this countries competitive edge? I for one am keen for the UK to move closer towards Europe, but the whole idea becomes farcical when we pay so much more than them for some vital services! The problem is that if the duty on fuel is reduced, then we'll have to pay for it some other way - almost certainly by some new "stealth" tax. The current government is very clever at sneaking new taxes in by the back door. Perhaps if they stopped wasting money on white elephants such as the Dome, we could pay a little less to get to work! I think it's going to be an interesting few days here in the UK...
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Don't blame the government, blame the end-users who want bigger cars and ,first of all, blame the automobile-industry who don't want to make cars consuming drastically less petrol
Pah. We don't drive cars any "bigger" than those on the continent - the problem here is that the UK government is ripping off the consumer by taxing fuel so much that companies are going to the wall! Even if concessions were made to hauliers by cutting the duty on diesal, it would be a start..
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Same problem I'm afraid, couldn't find any unleaded in Yorkshire. Some of the local supermarkets are running out of fresh fruit, veg, and bread etc. I suppose that I could always work from home, what a shame ;)
You get free fruit and veg in Yorkshire? I'm moving up North!!!
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Don't blame the government, blame the end-users who want bigger cars and ,first of all, blame the automobile-industry who don't want to make cars consuming drastically less petrol
Why blame the people who drive big cars? I drive a 3 litre ford scorpio 24 valve cosworth, and a porsche 911 Carrera 4, both of which get around 18 mpg. I dont complain about the price of petrol, I would obviously prefer it to be cheaper, but I choose to drive cars that make motoring more expensive FOR ME! MY choice of car does not affect YOUR motoring costs. If the level of tax is reduved on fuel it will have to be increased somewhere else, otherwise when you need life saving surgery, you will die. I agree that it is very hard for business to operate sucessfully with the current situation, so perhaps there should be concessions for businesses, remember that this protest is by and for businesses, farmers etc... not for the average motorist.
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I filled up on Sunday ... phew! I actually think "right on" and am with the hauliers on this one. I can work at home, so, personally, this is no biggy. The people of the UK have been walked on for far too long, and the UK is turning into an undesirable place to live (and I never thought I would hear myself say that). It's time this government realised that we will only be pushed so far before we say "Enough!". I am sick of paying through the nose for goods and services in this country and it's time to do something about it. The hauliers/farmers who are responsible for the blockades are ensuring that fuel gets out for the emergency services, which is a master stroke as it will ensure public support for at least the next few days. More worrying, however, is the news this morning that the government had plans to implement the 1976 Emergency Powers Act, which means they could use the army at any time... As for other comments on this thread along the lines of "don't blame the government" ... er ... hello! Get real will you! This isn't the USA - we don't drive around in huge gas guzzlers - and why the hell should our European cousins get their fuel any cheaper? Do people realise what this does for this countries competitive edge? I for one am keen for the UK to move closer towards Europe, but the whole idea becomes farcical when we pay so much more than them for some vital services! The problem is that if the duty on fuel is reduced, then we'll have to pay for it some other way - almost certainly by some new "stealth" tax. The current government is very clever at sneaking new taxes in by the back door. Perhaps if they stopped wasting money on white elephants such as the Dome, we could pay a little less to get to work! I think it's going to be an interesting few days here in the UK...
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It certainly will be an interesting few days. This could turn out like the poll tax did for Thatcher
Indeed! I cannot believe the belligerence of the government over this - are they really so out of touch? A phone poll on TV-AM this morning showed 97% of people in favour of a drop in fuel duty. Tony should be VERY careful here - this could cost him the next election..
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
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Don't blame the government, blame the end-users who want bigger cars and ,first of all, blame the automobile-industry who don't want to make cars consuming drastically less petrol
Uwe, I'm not sure I agree with you. Most of the major car manufacturers in North America have offer ultra low consumption cars for years and years. Honda in particular has had 80+mpg cars on the market since the late 80's. Problem is, nobody buys them. If you want to get people to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars, the government really has to mandate the change, by taxing the high consumption ones, and subsidizing the low consumption ones. I wonder if anybody's ever worked out exactly how much money you would save driving one of those cars. Should be pretty straight forward, maybe I'll give it a whirl later today (if I get any time
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
I seem to have missed the guts of this. Am I to take it that the truck drivers are blockading the fuel distribution centers in protest of the high fuel rates? How long has this been going on?
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I seem to have missed the guts of this. Am I to take it that the truck drivers are blockading the fuel distribution centers in protest of the high fuel rates? How long has this been going on?
Truckers have been staging small demonstrations (like congregating in central London, causing traffic jams) for the last two years - but they have all been pretty minor affairs. The truckers are fed up with the high petrol prices that are making them uncompetitive (compared to the rest of Europe). Recently, the French were given tax cuts on fuel after only 48 hours direct action by truckers (blocking fuel distribution lines and motorways). This prompted our truckers to act to see if they could get some similar deal. Plus, it now seems that similar demonstrations are beginning across Europe (Belgium, Holland, Spain, Germany). UK petrol is by far the most expensive in Europe - way too expensive in my opinion. But, as I think someone already pointed out - if they (the UK government) cut tax on petrol for everyone, they'll probably go and tax something else. Having said that, the treasury are now collecting far more tax than originally predicted because of the soring cost of oil
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Uwe, I'm not sure I agree with you. Most of the major car manufacturers in North America have offer ultra low consumption cars for years and years. Honda in particular has had 80+mpg cars on the market since the late 80's. Problem is, nobody buys them. If you want to get people to drive smaller, more fuel efficient cars, the government really has to mandate the change, by taxing the high consumption ones, and subsidizing the low consumption ones. I wonder if anybody's ever worked out exactly how much money you would save driving one of those cars. Should be pretty straight forward, maybe I'll give it a whirl later today (if I get any time
Well, at least here in Germany the low-consumption-cars are really ridiculous. unattractive as can be, uncomfortable, etc. Seems that 98% of R&D at e.g. DaimlerChrylser work for big cars with big motors, and only 2% seem to work for alternative engine-concepts (like e.g. the Necar). So at least in (good) old Germany, really no real alternative :-
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It certainly will be an interesting few days. This could turn out like the poll tax did for Thatcher
.. I think the current PM is too young to remember (Mrs T or) the Poll Tax. Is it me or has everyone else in the UK notice that the Two Jags' department is [being kept] quiet, I thought that this should be his ostrich-in-sand ..er.. baby. News tonight C4 said that BT .. sorry.. TB is trying to get the suppliers to lower prices. Fuel cost 15%, Tax 85% Duh! It's like a failing B2C looking for credibility by cutting back on pencil rubber expenditure. Does anyone know what the proporionality is on the Fuel tax roughly? Is it 600% (85/15 as %) or x pence per litre? I keep being told that it is proportional, but note that Bobby Brown says that tax is going up by x-pence in the Budget. Kind regards Al. ATL, whoever they are, all the way
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I've been busy at work recently and haven't thought much about the petrol crisis that's been happening in the UK. But this morning on the radio it said hundreds of filling stations were empty. So, I got up at 5:30am and couldn't find a single station with unleaded fuel. By the end of the day the papers say the UK could be dry - what with lorries and tractors blocking refineries and fuel routes. It's annoying - but I have a lot of sympathy for our hauliers and farmers. Our petrol is the most expensive in Europe - over 80p a litre. Because of the shortage, one filling station boss caused a riot when he set his price at 2 pounds a litre - that's 11 pounds 36 pence a gallon - (I think that's about 17 US dollars per gallon!
Wow, people in the states started crying for relief when gas prices hit $1.50 a gallon. I'm amazed there isn't wholesale cheating going on to beat the taxman. People converting their cars to run on LP and petrol, station owners selling "under the table", etc