I know I have mentioned this topic more than once, but this really is a pressing issue and one that the whole of the British economy really does hinges on.
The price of fuel is now at an all time high. A litre of petrol at my local Morrisons is now 138.9p, with diesel now at 144.9p per litre. At locations on the motorways petrol reaches the 150’s and diesel in the 160’s. Totally unjustified.
I asked a question on Twitter tonight: what is the most expensive price for a litre of fuel you have seen recently? The highest answer I got was from @glassmanjamie who said he had seen a litre of diesel being sold for £1.56!
No wonder the latest economic figures show that the country is back in recession! The high fuel prices are strangling the spending power of individuals. Last week it was reported that the average fill up is now more expensive than the weekly shopping bill! More and more people’s spending money is now going on keeping their cars going.
Then of course there is the impact on haulage companies and manufacturers. A lot of window manufacturers must now have diesel bills of well over £1million now. These cost are them passed on to the consumers, pushing up sales of all goods and services, further straining the spending power of the general population.
There is due to be a 3p fuel duty rise in August this year. Once you add VAT and other factors it becomes more like 5p, which at current prices is going to send petrol to 143.9p per litre, and that’s if there aren’t any more increases between then!
I am going to write to the CEO of Sainsbury’s Justin King, to question him on petrol prices and why we don’t see the reductions at the pump when there are reductions in the wholesale price of oil. The reason I am writing to him is that he is the only one that has bothered to respond to me, TWICE!
One other point I would like to make is that in America, they publish the data at which wholesalers buy their stocks of fuel and at what prices. This sort of information isn’t made public here. Maybe if there was more transparency in the whole system over here, it would put pressure on those who supply the fuel to lower prices quicker and legitimately.
One very close to my heart! To be perfectly blunt, the WHOLE fuel situation at the minute is an absolute joke, and I personally can only see it spiraling further and further out of control… Someone at the top of the chain needs to act and at a minimum put some form of system in place to keep the fluctuating cost more stable to the end user. Its come to the point now where were having to consider a fuel margin for even the local jobs, that we would have once considered “just down the road!!” Situation makes me very… Read more »
For me too this is a very emotive one. I do approx 40k a year (or used to) and have been incensed at the almost exponential rise in these fule prices in recent times. I welcome DBG response to this and congratulate him in tackling some faces on the issue. One question I would love to see raised is how the Supermarkets can justify the regional price differences. Surely they above all, (masters of logistics) would purchase in bulk at very good rates and could therefore sell on at a uniform cost. I appreciate the other garages are either franchise… Read more »
Thoughy you might like this web-site dedicated to the topic
http://www.petrolprices.com/the-price-of-fuel.html
It seems to me that Fuel companies and government alike are doing nothing to help the motorist or in fact the industry and services that they are relying on to pull the country out of recession. It seems to be the first point of call when revenue needs raising.
Tell me about it.20 squid measley quarter tank.all tax.pushing prices higher and higher.Don’t they want a recovery.Unbelievable.Wages won’t keep up.lots teetering on edge already.Where will it all end.lol.
I remember seeing hydrogen car ran on water by bmw 15yrs ago.Solar panel s all over it also.Why hasn’t it been copied.Electric cars no good.coal or nuclear generated power doesn’t sit well
its not only fuel going up dgb, im afraid the energy surcharge has hit 30p a kilo as well