The crazy price of diesel.

[Mirage]

How much higher can it get? 4 weeks ago I bought at 70p per litre, this week 85p per litre, reliable information says one place on the northern rivers now pricing at £1.30 for red, and people are actually paying it.... :

Where will it be come October/November when we start paying ROAD prices for MARINE red?

Anyone placing bets on that?

Next thing will be a "River" tax.

It will happen, It'll be the marine version of the "road" taxes announced today, we're talking serious taxation here folks.

Forget any money going to save the environment. Its more in the coffers for MPs to cover their "expenses".

If Labour wanted a way to make sure they lost the next election then the dereg of marine diesel and the new increases in road tax and showroom tax made it a certainty.

Personally I'm looking forward to paying 100% more road tax to get rid of them! £200 quid extra - it will be a cheap price to pay!

[Poppy]

Bring on another regime. Let anyone who has actually achived something in their lives reap the rewards for many years of hard work.

Rod

Once again, I find myself agreeing with you Rod , but I'm not sure who, out of the lot who aspire to represent us ( or get their nose in the trough) who it is who has achieved something !

[Guest]

I have to agree with you Rod,

My daughter is off to uni this september and it galls me how much it is going to cost us, of course if me and the missus had decided to had decided to not work and sit at home all day breeding it would cost us bugger all. Of course we could all move to Scotland, quite a bit gets paid for up there.

Then there's pensions but don't get me started on that one.

Paul

[Pete]

Of course we could all move to Scotland, quite a bit gets paid for up there.

It's true that in Scotland you get some things paid for which you don't in the rest of the UK, however you need to be Scottish (living in Scotland for 3+ years) to qualify. For example, I've just finished my degree in Scotland, and had to pay tuition fees for the first 3 years whilst Scottish students didn't have to pay a penny.

As for pubs having to close, I don't believe the effect of the smoking ban has been as disastarous as some people have claimed. Smoking was banned in Scotland at the beginning of 2006, and two and a half years on I've yet to seen a pub close in the town that I lived in up there. If a small town with 17 pubs in can all stay open 2 1/2 years into the smoking ban with none of them having to close, I don't believe the situtation can be that bad. Obviously this may not be the same across the country, but this is my personal experience.

As for fuel prices, I'm off to Stalham today, so will take a look and see how much diesel is selling for up there.

[VetChugger]

We can only go by what we find as far as pubs are concerned and the smoking ban. I tend to think they are suffering. Just look at the Cross Keys in Dilham! Trevor (Landlord) told me last summer that he was considering giving up because of its effect on his trade and now he has.

Trevor

www.normanboats.co.uk

[Springsong]

As an ex landlord amd an ex smoker I have this to say. Who the hell does this government think it is. My pub was MY home therefor in my home I decide who smokes and who does not. If I should wish to make it non smoking so beit my desision not a bunch of free loading nere do wells in London, and incidently I still have to find anyone who will admit to voting for that ex freeloader in chief (I still cannot use his name without a profanity attached to it).

I DECIDE WHO DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS IN MY CASTLE.

Rant over.

[Guest princess tina]

at this moment gandalf is paying on average£1.30 a litre and been a cab driver he goes through a lot a week.the fares are the same as what they were twelve months since, our standard of living as definitly gone well down , them in london should swop places with any one of us for a month and see how rough it is .Please dont start me on the smoking ban. i cant even smoke in the car as its his buisness (im blind though cant see signs lol)

[Heron]

So it looks like we are all looking for a change then...................25%+ inflation, 15% interest rates, 3,000,000+ unemployed........ better be careful who we vote for then!

[jillR]

wish i had faith that a change would make any difference

jill

[thirdmate]

Where to start ??????

1) Anyone who wants to be an MP should be the last person allowed to stand

2) I got a road tax reduction (na na na :-D ) although LPG is now almost 54p litre (No congestion charge either )

3) Really not sure if anyone of the pigs in the trough at westminister care at all, we have a brilliant country and are one of the most over regulated in the world, perhaps thats not quite true, we have the habit of signing up to most of the extra garbage out of the EU plus our own stupid legislation, shouldn't be a major issue but unlike our european partners , we have a civil service that actually enforces this clap trap.

I am a smoker and try note to kill my friends by smoking in their company (not that they care) just got back from spain where a smoking ban has been applied. You can only smoke at the bar in some establishments, but as soon as you sit to eat they bring you an ashtray !!!!

At one place another customer (english) complained about someone smoking 4 tables away. The owner responded straight away by moving the complainant to a table by an open window, shouldn't laugh but couldn't help myself, neither could 3/4 of the other diners most of which where brits.

4) Interesting that heating oil/diesel/lpg are all by-products of the refining process for petrol, so why more expensive, perhaps because any fuel is triple taxed??

I could go on for hours, but the frustration would give me a breakdown. So I'm going to shut up and look forward to Breydon regatta in August.

Andy

[Guest]

Mine and I'm sure many others problem as well Jill

What really does alarm me is that there is likely to be a protest vote at the next election and some real extremists will get voted in.

Rod

Agreed - not just with you but with most of what's been said. Every time I think this government can no longer surprise me they actually still manage to find a way.

One buzz word that really gets to me is "rebate". All this damn talk of government rebates - it's nothing more than taking money and then giving it back. How about just not taking it in the first place? Or is taking some money, juggling it through 10 different bank accounts, 5 different offices, several dozen administrators and then giving it back to the person who gave it to you somehow less wasteful than doing none of that and leaving it with said person in the first place?

Case in point, local councils have asked for a rebate on fuel costs because the huge rise in fuel costs are putting pressure on their ability to provide services. But what are councils doing paying it in the first place? Yet again, it's the same pile of money shifting backwards and forwards between departments of what is, essentially, the same organisation, whilst all the while being significantly denuded by the infrastructure that needs to be in place for no reason other than to facilitate said shifting. Madness, absolute madness.

Of course, much of the above would happen with any government. My particular bugbear with this government is its obsession with power and control, it simply hates the thought that anything could exist that it is not somehow controlling or monitoring. New Labour is a joke, its policies are no different from old Labour - tax and spend, tax and spend, doesn't matter whether the money is spent well, as long as it's spent.

Funny really, the Tories, who let's face it are a rabble, are going to inherit a disaster - collapsing housing market, increasing industrial unrest, the unions finding their voice, rising inflation and spiralling fuel costs, over regulation etc etc, all so different from the last time a Conservative government took over from a Labour one. But one thing Rod is very right about, is that when an electorate starts to get seriously hacked off with mainstream politicians that's when they start to turn more extreme options.

[Guest]

At last something to make us "flappy bit" sailors smile. Increased diesel prices can only be good news. Perhaps it will act as a catalyst to rid the broads of these noisy, smelly polution monsters leaving this wonderful inland waterway free for the enjoyment of "true" boat lovers who live pollution free lives under graceful, billowing sails.

Another point, the broads toll should certainly be increased for these ugly "earth destroying" vessels - year on year with proportional decreases for boats under canvas. This would certainly encourage skippers of these black, billowing smog monsters to re-locate their vessels to the coast where they can don their captains hats and pretend to be seasoned sailors.

Who knows it might even encourage them to learn how to handle a boat properly, Under sail!!

[jillR]

hi smellyloo

welcome to the site :-D

jill

[Guest flanaguff]

Well the price of Diesel is mainly down to the city speculators who trade in a day more barrells of oil than is produced in a year, great system capalitism?

New Labour the same as old Labour rubbish! new Labour are just PINK Torys

Unions getting strong again! great who else will defend the exploitedI

Cab drivers wife complains fuel up fares not up, solution join the GMB Professional Drivers Branch i happen to be the National Organiser for the GMB Professional Drivers Branches nationwide, 2 of our latest Campaigns CCTV at govt expense for all Hack PH Drivers, Subsidised fuel for cabs , we are a vital part of the nations transport infrastructure, i can be contacted on 07958 275 339

Vote the Torys in God help us, vicious anti working class fascists! They will destroy the NHS, annihilate the pensioners,TRY to destroy the UNIONS Rape and pillage the nation as did that obscenity Thatcher.

As for smoking bans absolutely right, who gave you the right to poison me and my family?

What we need is a solid left wing socialist Govt that will Tax the rich,protect the pensioners, and bring back under state control of the Raiways,Mines,and utilities!

Now in heading for a nucleur shelter can imagine whats coming in response to this post!

[Guest Hank]

As for smoking bans absolutely right, who gave you the right to poison me and my family

As a smoker for 25 years and a non smoker now for nearly 10 years I agree nobody should have the right to poison anybody However,

There is room for compromise. My local pub has seen a thriving busy establishment with a great bar become an empty bar with the odd person turning up when the sun shines so they can smoke in the garden I rarely see some of my mates of 40 years who no longer go to the pub. It would have been better to allow pubs and clubs with separate rooms to have a "snug" or "smoke" room, as they used to have, keeping dining and non smoking areas separated from the evil poisoners.

Perhaps a thought for the political parties

introduce licensing for smoking areas in pubs/clubs ( a source of revenue)

Introduce inspections of said premises to ensure non smokers are not affected (another source of revenue for inspectors visit)

I'm sure several million smokers would suddenly know where their vote would be going

By the way before anybody says it was part if the 2003 Health act - No it wasn't the EU and the Government specifically said that pubs and clubs could be exempted from the legislation It was our own Health minister who decided unilaterally to introduce the ban to the extent it was.

Oh and stuff cyclops

[Guest flanaguff]

Whose Cyclops? If you mean Gordon Brown, im with you on that one a right wing infiltrator, declined the opportunity to meet him last year, what a specimen!!!

As for your smoking idea looks OK to me!

[Poppy]

OOOOO! get her! :-D :-D :-D :-D

[Guest]

{snip}

Unions getting strong again! great who else will defend the exploitedI

{snip}

Vote the Torys in God help us, vicious anti working class fascists! They will destroy the NHS, annihilate the pensioners,TRY to destroy the UNIONS Rape and pillage the nation as did that obscenity Thatcher.

{snip}

What we need is a solid left wing socialist Govt that will Tax the rich,protect the pensioners, and bring back under state control of the Raiways,Mines,and utilities!

Ok. Firstly, if all the unions did was protect the exploited I'd have no problem with them. Sadly the reality is somewhat different and always has been, as with all things that involve human beings they subject to the whims, egos and political aspirations of those that run them. The end result is invariably a far cry from the noble aim in which it started life.

Secondly, not quite sure of your reasoning as to the Tories destroying the NHS etc. As far as I can tell Brown has already done that, ditto much the rest of the list you employ in the following paragraph. As for Thatcher, she inherited the country at probably its lowest (non-wartime) ebb since the middle ages and pulled it up by its bootstraps - in spite of them not being perfect by any means, what Tony Blair inherited in 1997 was a far cry from the mess inherited by Thatcher in 1979.

Thirdly, socialism is a flawed concept. It's an ideal, nothing more, and it doesn't work in real life because it is fundamentally at odds with human nature which is, by design, greedy and self interested. I'm not a big fan of capitalism, by any means, especially not the advanced and extreme forms in which we see it in the 21st Century, but the fact remains that the powerhouses of the modern economic world are those which have practised laissez faire economics for a long time and correspondingly their citizens reap the rewards of a higher standard of living and freer lifestyle.

[Guest Hank]

As a Union member working in a "closed shop" (for those that don't know it meant non union members couldn't work there) in 1979 I vividly remember Red robbo, Arthur Scargill and their ilk

I also remember the winter of Discontent, The two days of no electricity each week. The dole queues stretching round the corner. The night shift in sleeping bags at British Leyland. The rubbish piling up. The tube strikes..

I could go on

Thank god for Maggie for the first time ever I voted Tory she was what the country needed and I don't regret that vote one bit

(Later on with John Major and the Poll tax was a different story)

Cyclops

[Guest]

Like Ive said before because people just sit back in there chair and relax

if everybody in the UK did a MASS protest then did another a week down the line the government would have no choice to listen.

People say they want Brown gone but you don't see nothing happening apart from the polls turning nothing realy.

If i have my own way i would tell everybody not to pay there road tax i hear you say there would be no point.

but there is a point there not going to take every vehicle off the road but they would have to come to an agreemant.

its the people who pay the copious amounts of tax in the UK and wee should be the ones to decide how much.

THE POEPLE IN THE UK JUST BEND OVER AND TAKE IT you may think otherwise BUT ITS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.

the government have cushy jobs cushy expenses while the people with low income and a few people who are well off are suffering.

do you think the government is going to pay this new car tax for cars over ten years old no

THEY GET A NEW ONE EVERY WEEK WITH TAX PAYERS MONEY ITS NEEDS TO STOP AND THE PEOPLE SAY WHEN YOUR PAYING THE TAXES AND THERE JOBS

[Guest shaun4767]

I hope you all don't mind but I have read the posts on here and feel that I have to say my bit......

I think you are all being far to harsh on those wonderful, honest,caring and down to earth people we have elected to represent us (If you don't know who I mean by the description I'm talking about MP's We all know that they work long hours??? ( Or is it take long Holidays ) in order to do the best for us. LET US ALSO NOT!!! forget that most of these wonderful people have a 2nd home to pay for. What a better way to get that second conservatory they have always wanted then by raising fuel prices. Come on people, lets get behind the people in power. I for one am proud that I voted for Screaming Lord Sutch...

Shaun&Jill

[Guest flanaguff]

Well as an ex fleet Street printer i fully acknowledge the brilliance of the PRE entry closed shop, we will get it back,Scargill was absolutely correct all he predicted came true Privatised FUEL GAS ELECTRICITY OIL a gross rip off. The nation had its chance to support the miners with a general strike and bottled it WE pay the price, FUEL ie OIL GAS ELECTRICITY gross rip off the profits go too French German American CARTELS. Thanks Maggie! Flogging the family silver brilliant? Thatcher and her shower did more damage to this nation than Adolf Hitler!

Unions are the locomotives of decency, fairness,progress! we in the movement are dragging them back Leftwards.

It was your Oil Maggie squanderd Trillions to finance dole queues, now theprofiteers Shell BP earn millions day you criticise the Govt! tunnel vision????????????????????????

Im going back in the Nuke shelter!!

15 days then im on Royall Diamond

p

[Guest Hank]

Re elctricity prices

"since privatisation in 1990, reliability has remained excellent and prices to small consumers have fallen in real terms by about 25 per cent."

(Newberry 1999)

I would point out that the price hikes are occuring under a labour Government and that foreign companies were allowed to buy them under said government

Re gas prices

"Gas prices in real terms started to fall after privatisation and after the break up of British Gas plc and the increase in competition in the supply of gas, prices were lower than the British Gas price."

(Source Biz/ed) business education magazine

Again it seems the hikes are occurring under the labour government

Re petrol/oil

"Most of Shell's profits come from finding and extracting oil, and then selling it on to the markets.

Little, if any, profit comes from forecourt sales of fuel - which in the UK attracts among the highest taxes in Europe. "

(Source BBC business)

Again the hikes have occurred under a labour government who consistently gain more via taxation (percentage of Duty & VAT per £)

I would further point out that if privatisation had not occurred then most of out utilities would have gone the way of British Leyland with no investment from the 70's labour government

[Mirage]

WOW! - perhaps WOW I'M REALLY SURPRISED (or am I?) - by the venting of feelings to the original post on the crazy price of diesel. Yes,there is a yard on the northern rivers charging 130p for marine deisel. Outrage prices. The Hirers don't know the difference, what a racket...

There is only one reason that we are paying way over the odds right now. Its called SPECULATION. The supply chain gives no reason for the 80% annual rise we are currently experiencing. The profits being made by the oil companies are simply obscene. They get away with it, and the government think they'll add their 2% and we won't notice, thats 3p EXTRA on every litre sold across the UK, for doing absolutely nothing. GIVE ME A JOB LIKE THAT - PLEASE! they dont tell us how they will spend it, but no prizes for guessing who will be "employing" family members as "research assistants".

What if everyone said they won'y buy ANY fuel for one week. Reckon that might lead to a shock surplus and tumbling prices?

Hope we're now all feeling a little better for a good rant and expessing our frustrations!

How come we were suckered into having this unelected scottish prime minister to govern the 84% of us who live in ENGLAND? Lets not forget the stooge "Scottish" chancellor and the rest of our unelected prime ministers cronies. Too many. I Think so. check them out;

Gordon Brown - PM

Alastair Darling - Chancellor

Des Browne - Defence & Scottish Secretary

Douglas Alexander - International Development Secretary

Home affairs (excuse that word "affairs!"), Defense secretary - to look after their Scots own, Foreign affairs is that scotland too? or further afield like zimbabwe for a sample (again excuse that affairs word) and our wonderful chancellor THAT'S OUR CASH! and we didn't choose any of them.

Remember this guy. he who likens himself to Hinchcliff, sold all the nations gold for flumpence at the bottom of the market, he doesn't have a car, and lives in a tied cottage in downing street.

What can he possibly know about living in the real world!

And yes - There's a whole new day tomorrow that hasn't stated yet.................

[Guest Hank]

ouch you mentioned darling - this man has ruined my life -say no more