Dear Chief Secretary to the Treasury,
I'm afraid to tell you there's no money left.
Signed, Liam Byrne

(Outgoing Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury. May 2010)
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Friday 9 April 2010

Petrol prices

With fuel prices rising alarmingly, thanks to the extra duty that nice Mr Darling has made us pay, it's worth checking this site (petrolprices.com) to find the cheapest fuel in your area.

We Rigbys have been registered with the site for a couple of years. We haven't ended up with loads of spam messages, but it has meant we can search up to 20 areas in 24 hours, which can be handy if travelling to a different part of the country.

Mrs R has noticed that some people on that site think fuel prices should be an election issue.

Mrs Rigby thinks they're right, because increased transport costs mean that every single thing we buy will cost more - no business can absorb this sort of increase without passing it on.

So next time you go to the supermarket your food will cost more, when you go to buy clothes or shoes they will cost more, and if you want to buy a service, such as a plumber or electrician, they will also charge more because it'll cost them more to get to your home - and almost all of these price increases will generate more VAT for the government to squander on trivia, whilst us poor mugs at the bottom of the feeding chain end up with less in our pockets, again.

Maybe that is why are none of the three main parties making fuel taxation an election issue.

Perhaps they should - the one that does might get Mrs R's vote.

P.S.
Just found this on NotASheep. Says it all really.
'Just imagine a dual till system on the forecourt, where the driver goes to the first till and pays £28 for the cost of the fuel and the retailer’s profit margin, and is then channelled to the second till, coming face to face with a bureaucrat who tells him:
“Because you have spent money filling your car up, you must now give more money to the government.”
“How much?”
£52.”
“But that’s almost twice as much as what I’ve just paid the garage!”
“Tough. Pay up and shut up.”'
....

1 comment:

JohnRS said...

.....or more simply, just itemise the fuel cost, VAT and excise duty separately on the till receipt.

That would open a few eyes to exactly what tax burden this revolting admistration has imposed on us.