Price of petrol WTF

[MichaelG]

I have just sent an email to the scotland address on the above post. Hope others are doing the same to their local area address.

 

As much as i loathe paying the petrol prices, the UK as a whole doesnt have the backbone to stand together on one set day and do something that will change the price of petrol for good. The nation cant stick to anything serious, but if you look at what happens in South Africa and the USA.....jesus they RIOT when prices of things go sky high and they come down again soon enough because of it !

 

The UK as a whole likes to talk a good argument, but when it comes to the crunch, we as a forum, with others would end up standing united and being let down by the ones who said "yeah lets do it" and then dont bother when it comes to the crunch......story of the UK really.

[Bill Prawn]

I have just sent an email to the scotland address on the above post. Hope others are doing the same to their local area address.

 

 

 

I have sent mine to the local labour, cons and lib dem adresses

[blert596]

I think the idea of everyone boycotting all petrol stations is a no goer, as at the end of the day we will have to refuel at some time. And they know this.

 

A much better idea, IMO, is to target specific brands. ie, if everybody stopped getting petrol from say BP, making sure they knew the reason was because of the pricing, then it is bound to hit them hard. Surely they would then have to consider lowering their prices to make it a more attractive proposition to us.

 

If the prices do come down, then a boycott of say, Shell, could be done. At the same time getting fuel from the now lower price of BP. And doing this will force competition between them.

 

Can you imagine the impact a total boycott of a sole distributor would have? I've no idea how feasible it would be, or wether the goverment would bail them out, but the profits these companies are making DAILY are not to be sniffed at. Imagine a week/months loss of profit.

 

Viva la revolution!!!

 

On a side note the boycott of the S*n newspaper within Liverpool has had a huge effect on its profits. From selling 200 - 250,000 papers daily, it is down to less than 50,000. And thats been going on for 16 years. Imagine that on a nationwide scale.

[AJI]

Be careful with blockades, the main action the government took after the truckers blockades 4(?) years ago was to introduce a load of new laws to make actually stopping the distributers going about their deliver business illegal, and AIUI gave the police more scope to remove such people from blockades. Protesting is ok, blockades aren't, IIRC.

 

 

 

In effect it is outlawing our right to protest when it comes to fuel prices!

 

 

I was in full support of ALL the blockades when they took place a few years ago. I even printed out posters and things for my dad (who is an HGV driver).

 

The government spin freaks who fed the media full of bullshyte were unbelievable. The stories that were coming out of the newspapers and the news readers desk were full of shyte.

 

No emergency service vehicles were blocked from obtaining fuel contrary to what the government fed us. No fuel protestors were 'bullying' fuel delivery trucks. All that happened was the 'go slow' campaing and the refinery blockades. The government made up stories about HGV drivers starting fights and acting like yobs.... when I know that it was all calm and peaceful where ever there was a blockade. Even the police I spoke to at the time were shocked to hear what the government were coming out with as they hadn't heard any reports 1st hand.

 

 

The government basically shat themselves and in retaliation they made up stories to swing the public against the protestors and then they outlawed our right to protest against high fuel prices EFFECTIVELY.

 

They know full well that there isn't any other effective protest when it comes to fuel prices.... we can moan all year round but we still vote them back into power. We can write letter after letter but they throw them in the bin.

 

Basically they are laughing at us all the way...... just take a guess at how many cabinet MP's actually pay for their OWN fuel cost per year!?

[Bill Prawn]

I think the idea of everyone boycotting all petrol stations is a no goer, as at the end of the day we will have to refuel at some time. And they know this.

 

A much better idea, IMO, is to target specific brands. ie, if everybody stopped getting petrol from say BP, making sure they knew the reason was because of the pricing, then it is bound to hit them hard. Surely they would then have to consider lowering their prices to make it a more attractive proposition to us.

 

If the prices do come down, then a boycott of say, Shell, could be done. At the same time getting fuel from the now lower price of BP. And doing this will force competition between them.

 

Can you imagine the impact a total boycott of a sole distributor would have? I've no idea how feasible it would be, or wether the goverment would bail them out, but the profits these companies are making DAILY are not to be sniffed at. Imagine a week/months loss of profit.

 

Viva la revolution!!!

 

On a side note the boycott of the S*n newspaper within Liverpool has had a huge effect on its profits. From selling 200 - 250,000 papers daily, it is down to less than 50,000. And thats been going on for 16 years. Imagine that on a nationwide scale.

 

This has been tried before with ESSO but as far as I remember it failed miserably.

[blert596]

Any idea why it failed Bill? If it could be organised and implemented, with decent publicity, then I think it has a fair chance.

[Bill Prawn]

Any idea why it failed Bill? If it could be organised and implemented, with decent publicity, then I think it has a fair chance.

 

I think the publicity thing is the point.

 

You don't remember it happening, do you?

 

How many others are like that.

 

See this

[raymanuk]

Ok what about getting all forums to email the labour site and Newspaper sites with the letter from Bill P sent all at once?

 

Surely we could round up a lot of people......

Just an idea?

Also bringing sites down is ileagal.... but sending a boat load of legitimate emails are not...

[Bill Prawn]

Ok what about getting all forums to email the labour site and Newspaper sites with the letter from Bill P sent all at once?

 

Surely we could round up a lot of people......

Just an idea?

Also bringing sites down is ileagal.... but sending a boat load of legitimate emails are not...

 

As I said I've sent mine but I won't hold my breath on a reply.

 

But I will send it again, and again, and again...........

[Kopite]

just a thought, i haven't read all the posts so don't know if this has been mentioned yet - if we moan about the cost of petrol, won't the government use that as fuel (pun intended) to push the pay as you go road thing a long? i know that that scheme is just a way of disguising the tax we're paying, still worth thinkin about though

[ivan]

Tesco's branksome now has it which is a very small garage near Bournemouth.

Thanks for the heads-up - I hadn't thought of looking there as it's so small.

[dangerous brain]

There is one other way to make a protest that you haven't considered. If everyone you know lets their tanks run dry on the same day (average 60 litres each) and gets as many fuel containers that they can carry (average that about another 60 litres, I could stash 200) and stacks up as much fuel as they can on the same day you could effectively drain the entire system in a day. They can't stop you from buying fuel and its not like its a blokade as such. Non protestors would then be at a disadvantage as they would have no fuel and subsequently be unable to go anywhere effectively showing the knob heads that need showing that this country really does not work without the humble motor vehicle. Imagine how much fuel lorries and agricultural machines can stockpile (after all these poor feckers livelihood is effected horribly by these fuel costs). If each protestor could stockpile a couple of hundred litres a piece on the same day it would then have the knock on effect that after the protest they then wouldn't have to buy any more fuel, in some peoples cases for a few weeks. And heres the joy of it the protestors wouldn't be stuck in sodding queues panic buying fuel and being stuck for getting to work like the last protests.

 

I think it was the fact people were scared that they weren't going to be able to get to work that stopped the last protest. Everyone is going to be up in arms until the moment it is going to cost them their wages then suddenly it doesn't appear that good an idea.

[tbourner]

Seems reasonable, isn't the problem getting everyone to do it on the day though?

 

But then I suppose if everyone was going to do it those that thought they won't bother will have to for fear of running out of petrol!!!

 

The other problem is of course that I can't see them running out that quickly and certainly not staying run out for long.

[dangerous brain]

You'd be surprised. If large scale everyone took all their petrol and as much as they could carry on one particular day stocks would soon run out. Most people I know don't actually ever fully fill up. They put in a tenners worth or whatever. It wasn't really the blockade that ran fuel stocks out it was panic buying and stocking up that caused it. Same drills when the supermarkets got emptied of stock. The initial effect would be running stocks dry and then the fuel companies selling next to knacker all fuel for a lot longer than they are used to.

[AJI]

Nah that isnt exactly true... it was the blockades that caused the fuel pumps round my area to dry up. The tankers simply didn't bring fuel to the stations.

 

And buying fuel on one particular day will never work. Petrol stations are not allowed to run their tanks to empty inacse as they have to provide for emergency vehicles by law.

Buying fuel on one particular day will not change a thing. The average car is still going to use fuel and will use fuel at an average mile per gallon throughout the week until you have to fill up again. This is a cycle that every daily car will go through.

FUEL USAGE still remains constant as it did on any other previous week and therefore money spent at the garage is remaining the same. (and therefore tax going to the government remains the same).

 

On a 'everyone must buy fuel day' all that will happen is that the petrol stations would run down to their allowed minimum levels and then refuse to sell any more petrol to sustomers. They would ring the refinery up and get a new delivery the VERY NEXT DAY. Customers who couldn't buy fuel the day before will then be able to fill up and those that bought fuel the day before have achieved nothing.

 

We would have to affect fuel usage over a long period of time to have an impact on the government and this is exaclty why they have made fuel bloackades illegal.

[Stonkin]

This is a good thread and something that needs to be seriously actioned!

 

Either that, or we simply continue to get our arses shafted in one of the many ways the government chooses to rob us of our hard earned wages.

 

I have sent Bill Prawn's mail to all the address's listed in this thread, any reply at all would be happily received.

 

Christian

[Bill Prawn]

Still not received a reply.

 

Has anyone else sent it?

[dane_stone]

I got a reply but that could be because I sent it to all of them. We've got new contact info to.

 

 

 

Dear Mr Stone

 

Thank you for your e-mail.

 

The Labour Party values all comments and feedback and we especially appreciate that you took the time to contact us

 

We sympathise with points you have raised. I can assure you that they will be passed on to the appropriate department. The time and trouble you have taken in contacting us is greatly appreciated.

 

You may wish to contact the Department for Trade and Industry who should be able to advise you further

 

Department of Trade and Industry

1 Victoria Street

London

SW1H 0ET

 

Tel No 020 7215 5000

 

Website http://www.dti.gov.uk

 

Once again thank you for contacting us and we wish you well for the future

 

Regards

 

 

Andy Reah

Communications Unit

The Labour Party

 

[email protected]

[AJI]

Hands up those who actually think any of the email/letters will be passed onto somebody who can do anything about the cost of fuel ?!?

Not trying to dampen your efforts .... just trying to be realistic about the situation.

I've written off letters in the past and got near enough the same reply back.

[Kopite]

probably automated replies too!

[Bill Prawn]

Hands up those who actually think any of the email/letters will be passed onto somebody who can do anything about the cost of fuel ?!?

Not trying to dampen your efforts .... just trying to be realistic about the situation.

I've written off letters in the past and got near enough the same reply back.

 

This is one of the reasons nothing ever gets done because of the: "I can't be bothered" "Let someone else do it" "Nothing ever changes" attitudes.

 

I'm not trying to change the world but I do think many people think as I do.

 

Not just on fuel but other issues as well.

 

Maybe if the quiet man spoke up then we would stop being shafted.

[AJI]

As I say I'm not trying to dampen any efforts you guys are making.

 

I'm all for action as I have proved a few years back when I supported my dad and a whole other HGV drivers when he was part of the 'go slow' campaing on the roads. I compiled and printed off loads of posters and sent letters to the government to try and get the message across to people that fuel prices were at a stupid level. (Please read my other posts on this subject and you can see I'm trying to get people to actively think about this subject).

 

But in all reality the government put in steps so that they couldn't be held to ransom, so to speak.

If you protest in an effective manner against fuel, the government see you as a criminal and will try and treat you as such. (as was proven in the last protests).

 

Something really does need to be done..... but what can we do now that will effectively MAKE the government change its attitude towards the motorist?

 

We can write letter after letter...... no impact is made..... they send out automated responses and letters are never sent to ministers who have an influence.

 

We can buy fuel on only one day per week..... as already mentioned in one of my previous posts... this is useless and achieves nothing.

 

We can set up websites and send off emails to get the message across to the government... but all they are interested in is getting as much possible tax out of the motorist... so emails will be treated the same as letters and given an automated response then deleted (probably). And can you see any of this government looking at a website and then saying..."oh yes... we have got it all wrong.. I think we should remove fuel tax".

 

Our last option which I was hoping for early on this year was that the public would show their disgust and vote these thieving buggas out of power.... but we [the country] seem to like paying through our noses and have voted them back in power!!

 

So what can we do?

 

As I say I'd like to read about some ideas that have been thought through thouroughly and have a good chance of actually making an impact. Not just ideas that you hear about in puib talk. (not saying that that is what everyones' suggestion has arisen from upto know but you know what I mean).

[Kip]

OK guys I have to tell you - 99.9 pence for 97RON on the M40 (BP services) - on my way to Bournemouth - then filled up at the Tescos in Branksome and paid 85 pence for 99RON! WTF?

So as I suspected, both Tax man and the 'Cartel' are to share the blame for money grabbing.

What is this bo**ox about prices having to rise because of supply demands, can anyone please explain how that works?

I have had my own business and when I produced a product that had a great turnover I lowered it's price - for obvious reasons - yet for small volumes it was a higher price. So, just how does it work with fuel industry?

It would apear the more they sell the higher the price and if demand comes down they lower the price....DOHH. Am I missing something?

Do they not pump oil and produce fuel all year round at the same rate and tanker it up for use when supplies increase?

[AJI]

Both the government and these fuel companies see it as an 'opportunity' to fleece the public. No matter what is happening with fuel prices they will conjure some elaborate excuse as to why it means they have to raise the price.

[raymanuk]

To be honest I do not there is anything we can do. I wonder how much money go to the governemnt each time the price of fuel is increased. We will hit the £1 barrier soon. :thumbdown

 

I hate to say it but I have emailed got a response

 

I really don't think emails, protest marches are gonna do sh*te!

This country needs a revolution. Get these wankers out of office and start again. I thought we put these people into office. We should therefor have a right to fire them for doing a poor job.

 

Wasn't deisel supposed to be alternative with lower taxes when it was introduced? Then why does it cost more than petrol? I thought Deisel was easier to manufacture than unleaded? Not sure.....

 

Rant over..