UBB.threads PHP Forum Software Community Forums General Off Topic UK fuel protest planned for 15th Dec

Info for the UK readers:

A group called Transaction 2007 is planning a "nationwide legal protest". Protests will start Saturday 15th December 2007 at 10:00am. They say the date was decided by members as "the best possible to enable those who would normally be working during the week to attend." According to a press release on the site, they plan to protest outside refineries or storage depots across the country.

You might remember the fuel protest of 2000 which initially gathered strong support from motorists. However, that support quickly turned when many motorists were prevented from filling up because of lorry blockades.

PetrolPrices.com expressed to the organisers that they may find public support for another fuel protest providing it was properly planned to be legal and orderly. So far, the Transaction 2007 organisers have been unwilling to confirm to us specifically what action they have planned for this week. When we pressed the group's spokesman, Chris Hunter, he said "This will be a numbers game levied against legislation. I can comment no further."

With fuel breaking well beyond the £1 barrier, PetrolPrices.com has had a huge rise in the number of emails from concerned motorists. People were especially angry following the last fuel duty hike imposed by the Government in October. Despite being made aware of the huge resistance from motorists, the Government pushed ahead with the 2p duty increase, leaving the public frustrated and angry.

The protests of 2000 achieved some success in that the fuel duty escalator was frozen. However, it has now resumed and with the rising price of oil motorists are paying ever increasing taxation due to VAT on fuel. Unlike fuel duty which is fixed, VAT is charged at 17.5%, so for every 1p increase in the price of fuel, we are actually paying an extra 1.175p.

Hint: This is a good example of a post that could use an expiry date. After Sat 15th Dec the info above is completely useless.

Let us hope it has some effect - but I doubt it.

I had to laugh when I saw news items in the US, as to the high cost there - it is a lot cheaper than our highly taxed prices. (but I appreciate it is high compared to what they are used to)

Sadly the government has made it virtually impossible to protest about fuel costs due to extras laws brought in to make it illegal.

As I can pay half the current price in Europe it goes to show how much tax is being levied.

don't UKers have to pay a tax to use TV ?

It's a TV License - http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/licencefee/

Our friends in Cyprus roll around laughing when we mention things like Road Tax, TV License, Council Tax, VAT @ 17.5%, Inheritance Tax, Stamp Duty, etc, etc, etc. It keeps them amused for hours.

We pay a tax for everything LOL

Mind you I think the tax for having a dog doesn't apply now - but it used to.

Come to holland, we still have dog tax

To eat, or keep? :snicker:

to marry.. (j/k)

I believe that is why America revolted in 1776 isn't it? Too many taxes. 200+ years later it's still going on there.

They said Europe, not Alabama...

I think it was more the "taxation without representation" that was the issue. No idea as to whether that has changed or not. Don't know their government structure at all.

Dog Tax in Berlin/Germany: 120euros per year for the first dog, 180euros per year for second and third. No more dogs allowed without special permissions. Thats 175$ and 260$ per year

Fuel price in Berlin right now:
95oct and 98oct are equal at 1,309 euro per liter
Diesel cost 1,289 euro per liter

thats 1,90$ and 1,87$ per liter, not per gallon! Prices for 1 gallon are 7,201$ and 7,09$

Our diesel is around £1.08 per litre. Which is €1.51 or $2.21 per litre.

This equates to almost $9 per US gallon!!

Zarzal - must be worth your time driving into Luxembourg to by your fuel - I paid around €0.85 a litre there just over a month ago.

I drive in a vheacle at max 20 miles or so a month lol... Unless it's a bus, but I don't have to pay astranomically for that

Ian, you dont pay extra tax for a car in UK, right? We have also tax for the car (different for each motor modell per 100ccm). In UK is the car tax included in fuel tax as I know. So the total tax is in germany the worst in total europe

No - we pay a road tax - around £200 / $400 / €280 per year.

Of course we are also taxed on the purchase of a car as well.

Mind you - you can still drive at unlimited speed on some of your roads - popped into Germany a month or so ago (driving back from Portugal to the UK) - had no idea what the speed limit was though on the roads we drove along (except where there were clear signs!)

dude, FF has a spell check option..

Yes - but isn't that how you guys pronounce 'vehicle' as opposed to 'veerkel'

BTW: SD, can you tell me how to install german and english spell check and switch it? I have german dictonary active and see here all marked

Zarzal, i have no clue.. i just use Engrish... i'd expect YOU to tell ME how it works

hehe

Are you talking about Firefox? If so, when you're in a text box right-click the mouse and select Languages / Add Dictionaries. Once you have your dictionaries installed you should be able to swap between them by going back to the Languages menu.

Well, welcome to holland where you pay extra tax over your tax

I pay €600 road tax a year, for a small car. We also have a special car tax called bpm, that's an added, 42.5%. And over that bpm tax, we also pay VAT of 19%. Oh well.

yes - but at least you can go most places on a bike & have a fairly decent transport system

sheesh.. you guys are bordering on socialism..

/me hides shotguns in the closet and income tax returns

We need a license for those too - shotguns that it. You also need a valid reason for owning one and the police have to visit and check that they are kept in a secure locked cabinet before anything is issued.

You also need a license to go fishing.

well, Fishing licenses here too at least.. $35 per year for fresh water.. then $7 per extra stamp.. like saltwater, extra pole etc etc.

and i don't really mind that, because it pays for the restocking of the rivers and lakes with fresh fish..

so some of the fees are similar..

it is all swings and roundabouts

All in all, I don't really care about the taxes. You need money to keep the country running, and whether they take a healthy income tax, a healthy vat or whatever, the total money they need doesn't really change.

Our road taxes are a lot higher then for instance belgium, but the roads are way better. So I am not too unhappy about coughing up the money, but I do like complaining about it once in a while

We complain because they keep spending our money on too much USELESS stuff.

Ah, we complain basicly to complain

And yep, we see money wasted too by our government, but I see enough of it coming back for good stuff. I sometimes waste money too, that's only human.

They do that in every country :x...

Hey, how did you find the TRUTH

Scriptkeeper, thank you, I found it and can switch now.

Sie sind willkommen.

better dont translate this. The 'Your welcome' can be translated as 'gern geschehen'.

Altavista translates that as "gladly happen". Google says it's "like happen".

Did I post a bad phrase?

Thought I'd give it a try but maybe not.

Thats the problem with colloquial speech

Did this actually happen?

Yes - but I think they were fairly low key - the government put out a load of spin as to how any protests would be illegal etc.