M4/M5/M32 England and Wales, protests expected. 04/07

[adam2]

https://www.avonandsomerset.police.uk/n ... -protests/

On Monday 04/07/2022. Disruption seems likely. The main demand of those protesting is cheaper petrol/diesel fuel.
I can not support such protests, increased prices are one of the best ways to limit consumption.

[clv101]

Define 'best'!

It's rationing by price, the rich can easily afford so don't cut their consumption, the poor are priced out reducing the access to work, leisure and services. Bidding the price up to destroy demand transfers wealth from the consumer to the producers (oil companies).

[adam2]

Increased prices for petrol and diesel fuel are in my view one of the best methods of reducing consumption.
What alternatives are there ? better public transport perhaps ? I have known many drivers who could use public transport but do not.
More efficient vehicles perhaps ? At present large and heavy vehicles that burn a lot of fuel are very popular.
Many drivers use fuel very wastefully, speeding and only braking for speed cameras for example, or driving fast up to red lights and then braking hard at the last minute, rather coasting to a halt.
Or as reported elsewhere on these forums, sitting in a parked car with the engine running, presumed to run the air conditioning.

And anyway, despite the cries of anguish from the motoring lobby, road fuel is still very cheap if compared to bus and train fares. Petrol is only moderately more expensive than was the case over ten years ago.
I wish that train fares had been kept as cheap as petrol has been. Many fares have more than doubled whilst petrol has gone up from the last peak of about £1-40 to todays price of about £1-90.

[BritDownUnder]

There were some protests in Sydney involving someone parking a car at the entrance to a road tunnel under Sydney Harbour recently. It seemed quite effective but these were not petrol price related protests they were climate protests but interesting nonetheless. In Australia there is a saying that the best cure for high prices is … high prices. Destroying demand and people seeking alternative supplies.

Perhaps there could be a form of rationing whereby people get the first 20 litres of fuel with no tax and duty (or you can claim it back somehow) and then you have to pay the full Monty for any extra.

[adam2]

Protests now underway with significant disruption reported on some routes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-62034278

[emordnilap]

Perhaps there could be a form of rationing whereby people get the first 20 litres of fuel with no tax and duty (or you can claim it back somehow) and then you have to pay the full Monty for any extra.

TEQs/C&S were always going to be the most equitable and sensible ways of rationing but those two adjectives appear to have been lost from the language.

[Mark]

Fuel price protestors will slow traffic to a crawl with rolling roadblocks on M4, M5, M3 and A38 tomorrow as summer holidays start for millions of families:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... start.html

And again.....

[clv101]

Are these the folks asking for cheaper fuel or asking for us to just stop oil?

[Mark]

They're called 'Fuel Price Stand Against Tax'
It's a Facebook Group, but only members can see who's in the group and what they post....
I haven't got Facebook, but I guess they're single issue, asking for changes in the way fuel is taxed, rather than all fuel tax...?

The Treasury must be loving all that lovely tax revenue from the masses....
HMG has to get its money from somewhere though - if not fuel, then taxes have to go up in other areas (unless you're Liz Truss)
Within a few miles of me, unleaded ranges between £1.75 (independent) and £1.89 (Shell/TESCO), so the fossil fuel companies and some retailers are also profiteering..., fuel always goes up very quickly and comes down very slowly..., so it's only partially about tax rates.... ?

[kenneal - lagger]

Fuel in West Berkshire is always 5p or so per litre more expensive than any of the surrounding areas: Reading, Basingstoke or Swindon. West Berkshire is seen as an affluent area and not enough people are willing to boycott local filling stations to make them change their pricing policy. All the local fuel suppliers adopt the same pricing so I'm surprised that they can't be prosecuted for acting as a cartel or similar. Loads of people have complained to the local authority and our MP but nothing is ever done.