The out of touch Conservative / Liberal Democrat government politicians managed to cause unnecessary panic buying of petrol and diesel fuel, ahead of a threatened strike of (well paid) tanker drivers belonging to the Unite trades union.

Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude's stupid remarks about storing "jerry cans" of petrol at home in your garage, were seized upon by not just the tabloid media, but by tv and radio broadcasters like the BBC and Sky.

The equally out of touch Labour opposition (who were astonished that they managed to lose a "safe" seat to the extremist demagogue George Galloway at the Bradford West by-election on Thursday) spent most of the week feeding the tabloid press with their views about the irrelevant to most people, policy of charging VAT on hot pasties and on publishing a list which Conservative party political donors had had private dinner at Prime Minister David Cameron's home.

Labour in turn had to reveal that that Len McCluskey, the boss of the Unite Union, which has paid the Labour party at least £5 million, has had a private meetings or dinner with Labour leader Ed Miliband on 8 occasions since the General Election. Was the tanker drivers dispute discussed during those private meetings ?

The individual members of the general public cannot be blamed choosing to purchase more petrol or diesel than they have done historically at this time of year, especially given the massive media hype and propaganda and apparent political dithering they have been subjected to.

The Unite trades union is partly to blame, for not making it clear to the dim witted, short attention span mainstream media, exactly when they were proposing to take industrial action. Apparently this will not now be before or during the Easter Bank Holiday (a favourite target for UK and foreign transport related strikes) as many people jumped to the conclusion that it would be.

The Government is partly to blame for talking of "Preparedness", the training of Army drivers and the notorious "jerry cans", but again, not making it precisely clear when these measures were expected to be used.

It is not entirely the mainstream media or the internet social media's fault - they can spread rumours and misinformation rapidly, but they can also help to quash such rumours and panics, if they are used properly.

Will this self-inflicted Fuel Crisis be compounded by the planned rise in Fuel Duty (again, regardless of whether the world price of oil actually falls) this coming August ?


PA via The Independent reports:

Petrol price surges to 130p a litre

PA

Tuesday, 1 March 2011


Average petrol prices have passed the 130p a litre mark for the first time, the AA said today.

Prices at the pumps have reached an average of 130.03p a litre - only 2p away from the £6 gallon.

Diesel is now averaging 135.44p a litre, the AA said.

It added that at the start of the year, petrol averaged 125.19p a litre before hitting 127.74p following the VAT rise on January 4. Diesel started at 129.30p before reaching 132.01 after the VAT increase.

A year ago, the pump price of petrol was 112.74p and diesel 113.79p. This means that filling up a typical 50-litre petrol tank now costs £8.65 more than a year ago. A two-car family is now paying £36.71 a month more for petrol than a year ago.

AA president Edmund King said: "Now that petrol has hit record highs at the pumps the Chancellor must abandon the proposed tax hike (next month) and seriously consider reducing fuel duty to stabilise prices.

[..]

Whatever happened to the Conservative party "Fair Fuel Stabiliser" consultation back in 2008 ?

Will Chancellor George Osborne actually implement these ideas in the forthcoming Budget ?

Various media report that Petrol prices have reached record levels of around 120p a litre, perhaps over 130p a litre in some rural areas.

The useless Labour government has presided over an utterly inept "Energy Policy" and has so mismanaged the economy in general, that the UK is now being hit by fuel price increases in part due to the weakness of the £ pound against the $ dollar.

To add further insult, the Treasury has gone ahead with its increase in Fuel Duty, with more to come.

Remember that the actual tax on petrol is over 180%, if you ignore the weasel words which are used to separate VAT from the Fuel Duty tax

Tax is tax and the price of petrol at the refinery gate is a tiny fraction of the tax taken by the greedy Government.

If you get the chance to talk to prospective Parliamentary candidates, of whatever political party, then ask them in public, in front of as many mainstream media journalists as possible, what exactly they will do to reduce the burden of fuel prices, if they are elected.

Punish the politicians who are vague or ignorant or who can see nothing wrong in the current and predicted price of fuel, by not voting for them and by telling all your friends not to vote for them either.
.
Doing nothing politically in this General Election, by not voting, or by not questioning political parties and candidates on their Fuel / Energy price policies, is a recipe for financial ruin and misery for you and your family.

The Mail on Sunday documents what we all know from our empty wallets:

British diesel tax is highest in Europe

By Andrew Baxter and Martin Delgado
Last updated at 3:01 AM on 08th November 2009

British motorists pay more tax on diesel than drivers in any other European Union country, according to Government figures which also reveal that we pay at least 12p a litre more than other nations.

Fuel duty and VAT account for 66 per cent of the pump price, says the Department of Energy and Climate Change. In some EU countries, these taxes make up only 42 per cent of the price.

The overall cost of diesel is also highest in the UK, with the average price of a litre 106.6p, of which 70.1p goes on tax and duty.

[...]

The Department of Energy report says the average price of a litre of diesel in the UK in September was 106.6p. This compares with 73.5p in Bulgaria, the lowest in the EU. Motorists in France pay on average 89.2p, of which 52.2p goes on tax. Germans pay 94p, of which 56.4p goes on tax. Figures for other EU states are: Denmark, 93.5p (52.4p tax); Ireland, 92.4p (52p); and Spain, 82.4p (41.3p).

Typically, the Mail on Sunday does not bother to quote the name of the report, or to provide an online URL link to it.

Various statistics on fuel prices are published by the misnamed Department of Energy and Climate Change:

Energy statistics: prices, where you "can download annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly statistics in Microsoft Excel 2000 format"

The Weekly Fuel Prices Table (.xls) is updated each Tuesday at 9.30 am.

[...]

Unleaded petrol is also at its highest price for 2009, according to the AA. The average at the end of October was 107.14p a litre, beating the previous high of 107.03p.

Remember that this scandalous taxation regime is with the temporary 15% VAT rate,

Things will be even worse when VAT goes back up to 17.5% (or even higher) in less than 2 months time

Have the Climate Camp Protestors been tricked into being at the wrong place at the wrong time ?

Today (Sunday) and tomorrow, the useless Labour Minister Ed Miliband is hosting the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate meeting in London in preparation for the forthcoming Copenhagen conference i.e. to make most of the decisions before that conference even starts.

"The 17 major economies participating in the Major Economies Forum are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Denmark, in its capacity as the President of the December 2009 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations have also been invited to participate in this dialogue."

See also the BBC UK looks to break climate logjam

Guess where all the lobbyists from the energy companies and other vested interests are ?

Are they in Ratcliffe-on-Soar or are they wining and dining and schmoozing the delegates, politicians, civil servants and their hangers on in London ?

Why are the climate camp activists not tracking these people in London, instead of fighting with the Police in Nottinghamshire ?

The Daily Mail reports:

Petrol prices set to rise by 5p a litre by September as wholesale costs soar

By Ray Massey
Last updated at 10:38 PM on 07th August 2009

Petrol prices are set to soar by up to 3p a litre at the height of the holiday season this month because of rising wholesale costs, the AA warned today.

But motorists face a double whammy from September 1 when the cash-strapped Government imposes an additional and controversial 2p a litre tax rise at the pumps to swell depleted Treasury coffers - making a 5p a litre rise in total.

Rising prices of oil and an 8 per cent rise in the wholesale cost of fuel - both driven in part by speculators - are blamed for the initial 3p hike which will add £1.50 to the average fill-up.

Pump prices have already risen by a penny over the past fortnight and currently stand at 103.13p a litre for unleaded and 103.87 for diesel.

The 3p a litre price rises now in the pipeline will see fuel at the pumps in excess of 106p a litre.

But Government tax rises will add to the pain felt by Britain's 30 million motorists when Chancellor Alistair Darling imposes another 2p a litre tax hike on September 1, taking the price up to around 108p a litre.

[...]


So what exactly is the Minister Ed Miliband doing about these price rises, at the so called new Department of Energy and Climate Change ?

Precisely nothing to help ordinary people, as usual.

Gordon Brown has wasted some 20 million of our pounds on hosting the G20 summit, but from his media spin perspective, it has succeeded in diverting media attention from the 2p per litre rise in Fuel Duty which came in on 1st. of April.

Do not forget who is to blame for this deeply unpopular policy, when you get a chance to vote against Labour, at the 4th June European Parliament and Local Council Elections.


Gordon Brown's slogan "British Jobs for British Workers", which was heavily criticised as a clumsy Labour party conference 2007 attempt to "triangulate" political support away from the BNP and other extremists from amongst "the workers", seems to have come back to haunt him.

This former National Front slogan is being thrown back in Gordon's face, following his inept handling of the economy, and is being used as the rallying cry for the "unofficial" strikes and walkouts at oil refineries and possibly nuclear industry sites.

e.g. The Sunday Mirror reports: Gordon Brown slams wildcat strikes as more workers plan to walk out

Gordon Brown was personally in charge of failing to properly regulate the banking system, and he still seems to be micro managing and meddling in the economy, keeping his sock puppet of a Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling out of any media soundbites.

The industrial action has been concentrated amongst construction workers, protesting about the use of foreign labour, brought in perfectly legally by sub-contacting companies from other European Union countries like Italy or Portugal. When there was a shortage of such skilled labour, nobody complained, but now that Gordon Brown's policies have led to an economic recession, the inevitable pressure in the jobs market is on.

At the moment, the walkouts and demonstrations are "unofficial", and as such, reflect massive discontent with the trades union leaders who fund the Labour party, as well as with the Government and employers.

If the production workers, as well as the construction and maintenance workers, at these affected energy plants refuse to cross the picket lines or come out in sympathy, then the usual media hysteria will probably lead to panic buying and fuel shortages at petrol stations, again

Remember also that the Fuel Duty is set to rise, yet again, in April,

Already there is a media spin and disinformation campaign, with lots of stories explaining that the French multinational oil company Total, at the centre of the dispute is not actively discriminating illegally against British workers

Labour politicians are again giving the extremist xenophobic views of the BNP far more oxygen of publicity than they would otherwise have achieved, by their strenuous denials that there is any discrimination against British workers - trust in this Government is so low, after so much spin and disinformation, that many people now automatically assume that they must be lying.

The Labour Government appears to have no clue about what to do: the disgraced Cabinet Minister Lord Mandelson is making Norman Tebbit like "get on your bike" noises about the mobility of labour throughout the European Union, but his former trades union leader colleagues like the Alan Johnson are, in contrast, calling for some sort of protectionism.

The Times: More strikes loom in row over hiring foreign workers at low wages

Is it really just a coincidence that the classic comedy series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is being re-run at this particular time, on the ? Is it being aired now to remind people that British workers do benefit from the free movement of labour within the European Union (who are the commercial advertisers or sponsors for this re-run ?)

It is hard to say if online websites, which were devoted to industry specific news like www.ukwelder.com, have been taken by surprise by the depth of feeling on their discussion forums, or if they have been deliberately targeted by extremists and online trolls. It seems that they have decided to censor these comments, possibly as a result of legal or other pressure:

The UKWelder forum was established to provide a platform for the discussion of welding and welding related subjects. Of late a number of non welding posts have appeared that threaten the continued existence of this website. To ensure that this site stays online we must ask users to refrain from posting non welding topics.

There do still seem to be other online discussion forums about these strikes, for instance at The Bear Facts, who are trying to be non-political party aligned and non-racist, but who are clearly sending back to Gordon Brown his "British Jobs for British Workers" slogan.

This website may be ;less slightly less susceptible to censorship, as it is hosted outside of the United Kingdom in Denmark.

Apparently, even though the trades unions are not "officially" supporting these disputes, they are apparently, according to The Times meeting with the Government:

Thursday: Union delegation meets MPs and goes to Downing Street to talk about the industrial strife

Is this just sneaky evasion of the trades union dispute laws, which require secret ballots of members etc. before industrial action, and no secondary picketing etc., or are the union leaders again selling out the interests of their members to the Government and the big business employers ?

There seems to be talk of "a march on Parliament" to coincide with this meeting, but who exactly is organising this is a mystery - is it local trades union branch officials or someone else, in order to put pressure on the trades union leaders and Labour party politicians ?

Given the "political intelligence" gathering capabilities of the "snooper state", and by private investigators and infiltrators employed by big businesses, it would be wise for anyone organising, or even reporting on, such protests or strikes, to take some elementary precautions with their mobile phone and email communications and physical meetings: e.g. Hints and Tips for whistleblowers, journalists, bloggers and political activists

Alistair Darling has increased Fuel Duty by 2p per litre from 1st December, with a further rise of 1.84 p per litre in April 2009 (only 5 and a bit months away) , and more in 2010.

This will to wipe out any saving on fuel from the temporary 2.5% reduction in VAT.

See today's Pre-Budget Report (.pdf)

[...]


Fuel duty

7.38 It is the Government's policy that fuel duty rates should rise each year at least in line with inflation as the UK seeks to reduce polluting emissions and fund public services. However, in response to record peaks in fuel prices earlier this year, the Chancellor announced that the 2 pence per litre increase planned for April 2008 would be postponed.

7.39 As a result of falling oil prices, pump prices have now fallen by more than 20 pence
per litre from their July peaks. The Pre-Budget Report therefore announces that the 2 pence per litre increase in fuel duty planned for 2008 will now take place on 1 December 2008. However, as a result of the 2.5 per cent cut in VAT this December, the cost of petrol and diesel will fall for private motorists who should see no increase in the price they pay at the pump this year from this measure.

7.40 The Pre-Budget Report also confirms that, as pre-announced in Budget 2008, main
fuel duties will further increase by:

  • 1.84 pence per litre on 1 April 2009; and
  • 0.5 pence per litre above indexation on 1 April 2010.

7.41 Duty rates for rebated oils will also rise in proportion to main road fuel duties
on these dates. The duty differential for compressed natural gas will be maintained until
2010-11 and the differential for liquefied petroleum gas will decrease by 1 pence per litre on these same dates.

VAT will only be reduced from 17.5% to 15% until the end of 2009.

Will the Chancellor immediately reduce Fuel Duty at the end of 2009 when VAT goes back up ?

Will he immediately reduce the level of Fuel Duty when, not if, the price of crude oil increases again ?

Surely this is a blow to the hard pressed Road Haulage and Farming industries ?

The BBC article Q&A: Future of British Energy explains a little of the background to utter disarray which Gordon Brown's plans for replacement nuclear power stations in the UK now seem to be in, following the decision of the French state owned nuclear power company EDF to pull out of the deal with British Energy.

The less nuclear power, the more we depend on imported gas and oil for electricity, the higher the domestic and transport fuel costs.

It is only five weeks ago that Gordon Brown was begging Middle Eastern oil sheikhs to pay for British nuclear power stations.

See Gordon Brown's pointless trip to Jeddah


About this blog

This United Kingdom based blog attempts to draw public attention to, and to comment on, the Fuel Crisis caused by UK Government policy on energy i.e. petrol, diesel, LPG for use in vehicles, and for electricity generation, and the knock on effects on transport, food, domestic heating costs etc.

For a country with North Sea Oil and Gas,why are fuel prices so expensive in the United Kingdom ?

Most of the price for fuel that we pay is Tax to Her Majesty's Treasury, not directly anything to do with the world price of petroleum.

Is it really going to take blockades and protests in the streets again, like in 2000 under the Labour government, before the Conservative / Liberal Democrat Coalition Government listens to the people and abolishes the tax increases on fuel, which has reached over £1 £1.40 per litre of petrol in many areas ?

Or are they going to mismanage the Fuel Crisis, yet again, but this time invoke their Emergency Powers under the Civil Contingencies Act, or using the vast sureveillance powers of the state to snoop on peaceful protestors ?

Email Contact

Please feel free to email us your views about this blog, or news about the issues it tries to comment on:

info @ fuel-crisis.org.uk

If you want to send us something confidential, then you can use our PGP public encryption key

UK Fuel Price and Tax statistics

Various statistics on Fuel Prices and rates of Fuel Duty and VAT, are published by the misnamed Department of Energy and Climate Change:

Energy statistics: prices, where you "can download annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly statistics in Microsoft Excel 2000 format"

The Weekly Fuel Prices Table (.xls) is updated each Tuesday at 9.30 am.

Government Website Links

WriteToThem Identify and Contact your Member of Parliament, Members of the Welsh Assembly, Scottish Parliament, European Parliament etc,

No. 10 Downing Street Prime Minister Tony Blair Gordon Brown gets David Cameron gets hundreds of thousands of letters and emails a year. It is possible to write to or email the Prime Minister, but do not expect him to actuually read your message, let alone respond to it personally.


Her Majesty's Treasury
Complain to Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown Alistair Darling George Osborne:
"Emails and letters for the Chancellor and his ministerial team come in the first instance into HM Treasury's Correspondence and Enquiry Unit and then are sent into the Chancellor's Private Office. All correspondence received is replied to, within 15 working days and so you will receive a response."

To email the Chancellor or the ministerial team, the address is:

ministers@ hm-treasury.gsi.gov.uk

and to send a letter the address is:

Rt Hon George Osborne MP,
Chancellor of the Exchequer,
HM Treasury,
1 Horse Guards Road,
LONDON SW1A 2HQ

You can also fax correspondence on:
020 7270 4580


Consumer Focus - the former Energy Watch independent watchdog for gas and electricity consumers has been amalgamted into Consumer Focus

The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets - the regulator for Britain's gas and electricity industries.

Department of Energy and Climate Change

The Government Department which is supposed to be coming up with and implementing some sort of strategic Energy Policy for the United Kingdom, was shunted off in October 2008 into the newly created Department of Energy and Climate Change, to make way for the return of the twice disgraced Peter Mandleson's return to the Cabinet.

The useless Minister put in charge was Ed Miliband, the younger brother of the equally useless, yet ambitious, Foreign Secretary David Miliband (another example of NuLabour nepotism). - It turns out that both brothers were ambitious for power and Ed Miliband is now the Leader of the Labour party, which is proving to be as incompetent in regard to Energy Policy and Fuel Prices in Opposition, as it was when in power.

The lack of continuity of Ministers in charge of this department has continued under the Coalition, with the Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne resigning to clear his name of driving offence allegations.

The Ministerial team who might make announcements about Energy Policy, or who will be flying off at public expense, to international conferences etc. representing the UK, and who you might wish to write to or lobby in person, are:

So far, these Conservative / Liberal Democrat coalition government politicians have not been much of an improvement over their incompetent and authoritarian Labour predecessors.

DECC Contact Us web page.

Department of Energy and Climate Change
3 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2HD

General enquiries:
0300 060 4000
[standard national rate)

Email: correspondence@decc.gsi.gov.uk

"Enquiries from journalists should always be directed to the DECC Press Office, either as per the IPO Directory (White Book) or via the Enquiry Unit on 0300 060 4000. The out-of-hours number for urgent press enquiries is 020 7215 3505."

The top civil servant is the Permanent Secretary Moira Wallace
email: perm.sec@decc.gsi.gov.uk

The DECC Corporate Governance page list some more of the top civil servants and publishes reports about some of their foreign trips and expenses paid by th etax payer.

N.B. these do not reveal all the extremely rich Energy Company vested interest lobbying activity which obviously influences them more than the plight of the log suffering general public.

Protest Website Links

Fuel Tax Protest - low turnout protests in 2005

Farmers for Action some of the organisers of the fuel protests in 2000

Road Haulage Association

Fuelprotest.com online petition

Fuel Website Links

Automobile Association summary of UK and Oversease fuel prices

Rip-Off Britain

Fuel Industry Links

UK Petroleum Industry Association - made up of the 9 companies the main oil refineries in the UK.

UK Petroleum Industry Association Ltd,
Quality House
Quality Court Tel: 020 7269 7600
E-mail: info@ukpia.com
www.ukpia.com

BP Oil UK Ltd, Witan Gate House, 500/ 600 Witan Gate, Milton Keynes, MK9 1ES
Tel: 01908 853000,
www.bp.com

ConocoPhillips, ConocoPhillips Centre, 2 Kingmaker Court, Warwick Technology Park, Warwick CV34 6DB
Tel: 01926 404000
www.conocophillips.co.uk

Esso UK Ltd, ExxonMobil House, Ermyn Way, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8UX
Tel: 01372 222000
www.exxonmobil.co.uk

Ineos Refining, INEOS Group Ltd., Hawkslease, Chapel Lane, Lyndhurst, Hampshire, SO43 7FG
Tel: 0238 0287067
www.ineosrefining.com

Murco Petroleum Ltd, 4 Beaconsfield Road, St.Albans, AL1 3RH
Tel: 01727 892400
www.murco.co.uk

Petroplus UK, St. Mark`s Court, Teesdale, Stockton-on-Tees, TS17 6QW
Tel: 01642 736101
www.petroplusholdings.co.uk

Shell UK Ltd, Shell Centre, York Road, London SE1 7NA
Tel: 020 7257 3000
www.shell.co.uk

ChevronTexaco Ltd, 1 Westferry Circus, Canary Wharf, London E14 4HA
Tel: 020 7719 3000
www.texaco.com

Total UK Ltd, 40 Clarendon Road, Watford WD1 2TQ
Tel: 01923 694000
www.total.com

Energy Networks Association represents the licensed gas and electricity transmission and distribution companies in the UK.

ENA member companies

Blog Links

Spy Blog - civil liberties, security, privacy, technology, legislation

Global Guerrillas - John Robb

NuLabour blog

ParliamentProtest.org.uk blog - opposition to the curtailment of peacefule demonstrations and protests around Parliament and Whitehall and beyond.

Hints and Tips for Whistleblowers and Political Dissidents

The hints and tips below are just as important to anybody organising a peaceful Fuel Protest, as they are to other people who might come under UK Government or Multinational Corporation surveillance for their political activties.

Please take the appropriate precautions if you are planning to blow the whistle on shadowy and powerful people in Government or commerce, and their dubious policies. The mainstream media and bloggers also need to take simple precautions to help preserve the anonymity of their sources e.g. see Spy Blog's Hints and Tips for Whistleblowers - or use this easier to remember link: http://ht4w.co.uk

Syndicate this site (XML):

Recent Comments

November 2018

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
        1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30