Insane gas prices (petrol prices)

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[rant]

Okay, over in the UK we pay £0.85 - £0.88 per litre for 95RON unleaded.  97 Octane is available at around £0.03 extra per litre.

Taxation on fuel has risen sharply since 1992 when the conservative government introduced the "Fuel Escalator" policy where duty on fuel is increased by 5% over and above inflation.

Labour jumped on the bandwagon in 1997 and stiffed the motorist for as much as possible, culminating in the popular Fuel Tax protests of September 2000 when the whole country ground to a halt because farmers, hauliers and ordinary folk blockaded refineries in protest.  

Tony Blair and John Prescott were enjoying an Indian meal, only to be greeted by a mob chanting "Shame on you" upon leaving the restaurant.  Clearly bewildered and having absolutely no clue as to why 90% of the British public was angry, Blair blamed the oil companies for profiteering, strangely forgetting that petrol prices in the UK are around 78% taxation.  Prescott caused further controvery when his four litre Jaguar saloon was used to drive him 300 yards at a public engagement during the height of the protests.

The Blairite spin machine was rocked by the news that if a general election were to be called during September 2000, the Tory party would win with a massive landslide.  Since then the spin machine has wound up a notch, with more car-unfriendly legislation being passed by the month.

In the UK, transport causes around 40% of pollution.  A large amount, you might say but of this 40%, the car is only responsible for around 5% of emissions of CO2.  Jet travel is by far the biggest polluter, yet doesn't attract anywhere near as much taxation.  Meanwhile owners of diesel cars are sometimes subject to scrutineering to ensure that no-one's burning used vegetable oil and thus avoiding fuel duties...  

Does the phrase "Cash Cow" spring to mind?  
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[PMC]

Dan wrote:
Government policy on everything:
When in doubt, tax it!

So if your government isn´t trying to raise taxes at every possible moment then they aren´t just incompetent(which is expected) but insane.

So true, it sums up our Labour government who must spend all hours of the day looking for things to tax.  We have very high duties on tobacco and alcohol and employ hundreds of people in trying to prevent British citizens going abroad and buying the stuff duty free.  A case is going through the European Courts right now, where Customs and Excise are having to explain why they're being so heavy handed.

Problem is, sooner or later they'll move onto something else.  The car is a godsend to the treasury, it's unclean, causes congestion and in the wrong hands will kill people so they demonise it in the media and then extract as much tax out of car users as they can.

In Britain now it's automatically the driver's fault if a bicycle collides with a car, regardless of circumstances.  Violent crime, drink/drug driving is on the increase but the authorities will relentlessly pursue anyone caught exceeding speed limits - the only area of British law where you're guilty until proven innocent.

Once everyone stops driving, they'll move onto something else and tax the hell out of that.  

Of course, we're all intelligent enough to realise that death and taxes are the only certainties in life, but I wish we had more say in how our taxes are spent.