Fuel Protests...do they work?

TrixiBuG

TrixiBuG

TrixiBuG

Associate
Joined
24 Aug 2011
Posts
1,994
Location
Manchester UK
Hey GD

I was listening to the news last night and people commenting on the fact that the Government are still going ahead with the planned 3p fuel increase in August despite most of the UK being opposed to the idea

At the moment I am putting around £20 a week in fuel and I don't use my car to get to work, only on weekends to visit family and to buy food etc etc. But I am also paying just shy of £100 per month on a train ticket too, so my transport fees are approx £180 per month which is quite a big chunk of my take home pay

Now I don't want this thread to turn into easyriders "OMG Tesco...blah....fuel price...blah..." but my question is:

Back in 2000 there were fuel protests up and down the country and we (the general public) managed to get the fuel prices reduced dramatically Source

Would you join a country wide fuel protest if there was one organised? Do you think we can make a difference - i.e. if enough people shout the same message loud enough then the Government will have to listen?

OR

Do you think there is no point? That, no matter what we (the mass general public) the Government will never listen? Prime examples of this are the fuel protests that never got off the ground - the 2005 and 2007 protests Source, and other public protest that didnt make the blindest bit of difference - the Iraq War Protest which saw over 150,000 people march through London to Stop the War:
On September 24 2002, Tony Blair released a document describing Britain's case for war in Iraq. Three days later, an anti-war rally in London drew a crowd of at least 150,000 and probably around 400,000
Click to expand...
Source

(wanted to make a poll thread but I have no idea how too ;))
 
You need such a large number of people involved to make it worthwhile. You need to have blockades at the refineries, you need people to boycott forecourts and people to disrupt the road network through rolling blockades.

However, the police are going to go in heavier on the people who block refineries than they did before and it is very unlikely that you can get the apathetic public onside. Without the true belief that the government will lower fuel duty then the public won't go out of their way to make a nuisance, or to make their lives harder.

So, whilst I do think that they could work I doubt we'll see them being very effective due to the police being more willing to break up blockades and issues with getting the mass public onside.
 
Surely if the trucks can't deliver the fuel, there will be a shortage, which will throw the price up even more?

TBH It's crazy how high the price is going now, they should just make it £1 - 1 Litre, then you get what you pay for IMO
 
This is my thinking tho...if they managed to do it in 2000 why not again? And they were protesting against 80p per litre then! I would love love love to pay 80p per litre now...

(I say they cause I didn't drive or own a car back then)

Jay794 said:
Surely if the trucks can't deliver the fuel, there will be a shortage, which will throw the price up even more?

TBH It's crazy how high the price is going now, they should just make it £1 - 1 Litre, then you get what you pay for IMO
Click to expand...

But the shortage will be because of people objecting to paying the price - not because there is lack of fuel, but lack of willing customers...I dunno...
 
When people say that they want to pay 80p a litre and what not, then they need to take into account the changes in the price of oil. A price of crude in 2000 was around $30 a barrel. Today it is $105 dollars. Sure, taxation has risen highly but as has the price of oil thus meaning that it costs a hell of a lot more to produce.

Second to this, the government could cut fuel duty which would lower it by a few pence a litre but then there'd be a massive budgetary blackhole which would need to be plugged. Where do you plan to get the money to fill that?
 
I don't drive (don't need to) - but these fuel duty rises are yet another regressive tax, hitting the lowest paid workers hardest.
 
Ahleckz said:
When people say that they want to pay 80p a litre and what not, then they need to take into account the changes in the price of oil. A price of crude in 2000 was around $30 a barrel. Today it is $105 dollars. Sure, taxation has risen highly but as has the price of oil thus meaning that it costs a hell of a lot more to produce.

Second to this, the government could cut fuel duty which would lower it by a few pence a litre but then there'd be a massive budgetary blackhole which would need to be plugged. Where do you plan to get the money to fill that?
Click to expand...

The fact is fuel costs the government no where near per litre as what we pay at the pump. They tax the **** out of it because they know it's something people need to commute to work, school etc etc. Just like tobacco they know people won't stop smoking no matter what the price is because it's an addiction. It's daylight robbery but meh it's not going to stop.
 
Rotty said:
I don't recall them getting it reduced dramatically
Click to expand...

Your probably right tbh (I didnt drive back then, I just remember the petrol stations being closed with signs and stuff up limiting people to £10 fill ups only or something) but the way things are going at the moment, something has to give...Its so stupid to be paying sooooooooooooo much on something that a huge portion of the population use - either directly (by having/owing a car and paying for fuel) or indirectly (taking the bus to work, car sharing, having packages delivered etc etc)

The impact on the fuel increases spreads much further than at the pumps when you think about it.

I know that bus ticket prices in my area have increased from £16.00 for a weekly ticket to £18.50 (FirstBuses North West) and the bus company say this is because the cost of fuel has increased.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the big supermarkets claim that the reason why there are price hikes is due to the cost of fuel for the lorries that deliver the produce...

I understand that because the world oil price per barrel has shot up over the years and that is where the extra charge comes from...but is there no way to even things out a bit?!
 
All I remember from the fuel protests was eveyone trying to fill their tank the day before and huge queues everywhere
 
No point.

Lower tax on fuel and tax elsewhere goes up.

You can't even really say it shafts motorists. Not only is most of the population drivers, it affects everything from products to haulage. So impacts everyone.

Untill we get national debt lowered, then I can't see an alternative. Other than just shifting the tax from one place to the other, and everyone on average will still be as worse off as they are now.
 
http://www.racfoundation.org/faq/Economics

A3) Contrary to popular myth, the UK does not have the most expensive petrol prices in Europe. Currently, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden charge more at the pumps for unleaded fuel than the UK.

However, the position is different when it comes to diesel. With the exception of Italy, UK drivers do pay the highest pump prices for diesel, not only in the eurozone but across all 27 member states of the EU (European Union).
Click to expand...

always funny how a lot of people miss this tiny fact when there on about fuel prices.

the problem is the way the uk has evoloved you have to drive or use expensive public transport to get to work, as has been seen on these forums in a few threads now where theres people traveling 90-120mins each way to work because they cant afford to move closer.

untill theres a proper debate/protest that shows theres better alternatives things wont change and the rate things are going i doubt we will see it within the next 30-40 years.
 
I'd rather they increase the tax on other luxury goods (alcohol / cigarettes) than further increase tax on something many people are required to use to earn money.

To extents, of course.
 
You're forgetting that not everyone would be able to join in a protest even if they wanted to. I'm a sales rep and I can imagine the reaction my company would give me if I refused to turn out for work because I was protesting even if it was in their interest long term.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom