The Ochils Mountaineering Club

...to get the government to reduce the tax

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Lowerduty30/

http://www.telegr...l=/opinion/2008/05/07/do0710.xml#form

Not that they will do any good but they both now have 100's of thousands of signees

There's also another potential strike on the cards at Grangemouth - this time from the tanker drivers who want a 13% pay rise. They have voted for a strike likely to occur late this week or early next week.

I have decided on a career change - it seems that the average wage for a tanker driver is currently 36K!!

Nigel

Just be careful when delivering fuel near Sligachan ,Nigel
they are hard to pull out of the mire

Hi Nigel,

I don't want fuel duty increased further, but despite being someone who drives a lot and so pays over the odds on this, I don't really want it cut either.
As a society we need to start weaning ourselves off oil products on to alternatives, and it's better that this starts happening now and continues reasonable gradually than that it happens suddenly and catastrophically.
Plus, if they cut fuel tax, they'll put it up on something else instead - better that it acts as a catalyst for changing habits than just another stealth tax on something, I think.

P.S. £36K?
Where can I go to train for this job?

Hi

The basic fact is that the government cant afford to cut the tax, It can afford to scrap the planned october 2p rise and scrap its plans to re-jig the car tax rules.

The populus has been mis-using finite energy reserves ever since the industrial revolution!

What most narks me is 'environmental taxes' where none of the revenue earned is spend on improving public transport, or on alternative fuels research.

I do think that taxation on fuels should be fixed accross the EU though in order to offer a level playing field for the many industries that rely primarily on fuel.

Perhaps the government should force the likes of BP/Shell to invest their huge, recent windfall profits into alternative energy research.

I would say that the increased prices charged by the oil companies are an 'environmental tax' because they will force people out of their cars. No addition government 'environmental taxes' are required.

How much would fuel have to rise to before you were forced to knock work on the head, or give up on heading any more than 100 miles from home?

For me, if I cant afford to enjoy my free time, then I see no point in working. I may as well give up work, have 10 kids and let the sosh pay for it - i.e become one of the scrounging gits that I have always hated!!

My feeling is that this is going to get *much* worse... Which is why its worth making a noise about it now.

Nigel

Disappointingly, I can't find much in there to argue with!

I agree that it'll likely get a lot worse, probably quite soon. My hope is that the price of oil will go up at just the right speed to force and allow steady change, meaning a small decrease in quality of life while we adjust rather than a huge crash and turmoil.
I think it'd be more productive to urge more investment in alternatives than to demand tax cuts - even a big tax cut only puts off the inevitable for a wee while.

Shouldn't you guys be working just now, boosting the economy and providing the pensioners with a decent standard of living. Jim

It seems likely that, when the cost of oil gets high enough, pensioners will have to be euthanised for the greater good.

Hi Jim

If this carries on then you pensioners with your free bus passes will be the only people able to actually get out into the hills!

I predict that there will be a lively scene on ebay of pensioners selling their bus passes + a face mask of themselves for a fortune.

Of course, as we can see in Johnny D's avatar - he would not need the face mask, and could just borrow Jims bus pass!!!

Anything that we do in the UK 'environment' wise does not make a blind bit of difference globally - unless the US changes its ways, and China can be pursuaded not to make the same mistakes that we made.

I was speaking to my Farther last night in Devon (130.9 down there for Diesel!). He works as an Elelectrician and is enjoying a rest because no one wants any electrical work done! Additionally, he says that it was 'very very quiet' on the usually busy May bank holidays. Rural area's are gonna suffer most from this. People wont be able to afford to visit them, they all rely on tourism, and the fuel prices mean that they wont be able to get elsewhere.

Plenty of coal still in the UK's abandoned coal mines - I can see coal and nuclear being the fuels of the future at least for electrical energy supplied to the home.

Loops and I have knocked 'day trips' on the head - better to go somewhere for a weekend and get 2 days for the price of one. I also now cycle everywhere, and we are gonna get a cycle trailer to bring the food back from the supermarket!

My personal maximum spend on Diesel is £2/Litre - A figure which I think we will be close to by christmas. If it looks like its gonna get there then I'll be flogging my vehicle, and limiting myself to hills that I can reach by cycling!

Nigel

Nigel Webber wrote:
He works as an Elelectrician
A Spanish electrician?

My personal maximum spend on Diesel is £2/Litre - A figure which I think we will be close to by christmas. If it looks like its gonna get there then I'll be flogging my vehicle, and limiting myself to hills that I can reach by cycling!
Seriously? I enjoy getting away far too much to do that. When I can't afford to do what we do just now, I'll just do it less often rather than give it up entirely. Cycling more, and making more longer (rather than day) trips makes good sense, though.