Once again the government has hit rural community and the transportation industry. From midnight tonight petrol duty goes up by 2p per litre, but that is before they add VAT on top of the already charged duty (they get you twice) which at the current rate of 15% makes it 2.3p per litre.
At the end of the year, VAT will go back to 17.5% so we will be hit again, this is the third raise in 9 months. Road Hauliers have had a huge increase in insolvency's due to the combination of the recession and excessive fuel bills.
Even environmental campaigners are complaining this time, stating that most people have cut road use down as far as they can with out improved public transport - but fuel duty goes in the general tax pot, helping to pay the vast sums involved in unwanted projects like the National ID Card. In fact fuel duty hurts public transport as they have to pay for the fuel, at the same rate.
This causes real problems for people in rural community, where on the whole salary's are lower and having a car to travel to the shops (which can be 20+ miles away) is essential. Having already seen to the closure of a large quantity of rural post offices, being able to get to the nearest town is essential.
Rail does not provide an affordable alternative, as I show below:
To drive my car to London costs about £35, leaving when I want. If I want to park in central london, at an NCP I can for say £20 for the day and another £6 gets me a one day travel card. Total cost £61, and an increase of £6 per added person. if I take 4 people it only costs £22 per person, including the travel card, and we can travel when we want (it costs £16 per person if we park further out for free and get the tube in)
If I want to travel before 9.00am the cost per person is £126 with the £6 for the one day travel card applying, so £132 PER PERSON! not only that, but you have to change trains and travel when the trains run.
The Liberal Democrats want to cut down on road use, but we want to do this by improving and lowering the costs of public transport, making it a cheaper and viable option vs the car. Not only that but we want to increase the ability of the rail system to transport bicycles so you have the option to take your bike and use it at the other end.
Both the Conservative and Labour governments have hugely increased the cost of fuel using road users to fund expensive government projects, and there are no signs that the Conservatives plan to reverse this trend. The only party with a well reasoned policy are the Liberal Democrats - we just have to hope that they get enough of the vote next year to do some good.
You can help with this, Vote Liberal Democrat at the next election - If everybody who thought, "I would vote for them but they wont win" did, and if everybody who thought "they are all the same" gives us the chance to prove them wrong, then we have the opportunity to win by a landslide!
Do your bit for the future of Britain, Vote Liberal Democrat.
Even environmental campaigners are complaining this time, stating that most people have cut road use down as far as they can with out improved public transport - but fuel duty goes in the general tax pot, helping to pay the vast sums involved in unwanted projects like the National ID Card. In fact fuel duty hurts public transport as they have to pay for the fuel, at the same rate.
This causes real problems for people in rural community, where on the whole salary's are lower and having a car to travel to the shops (which can be 20+ miles away) is essential. Having already seen to the closure of a large quantity of rural post offices, being able to get to the nearest town is essential.
Rail does not provide an affordable alternative, as I show below:
To drive my car to London costs about £35, leaving when I want. If I want to park in central london, at an NCP I can for say £20 for the day and another £6 gets me a one day travel card. Total cost £61, and an increase of £6 per added person. if I take 4 people it only costs £22 per person, including the travel card, and we can travel when we want (it costs £16 per person if we park further out for free and get the tube in)
If I want to travel before 9.00am the cost per person is £126 with the £6 for the one day travel card applying, so £132 PER PERSON! not only that, but you have to change trains and travel when the trains run.
The Liberal Democrats want to cut down on road use, but we want to do this by improving and lowering the costs of public transport, making it a cheaper and viable option vs the car. Not only that but we want to increase the ability of the rail system to transport bicycles so you have the option to take your bike and use it at the other end.
Both the Conservative and Labour governments have hugely increased the cost of fuel using road users to fund expensive government projects, and there are no signs that the Conservatives plan to reverse this trend. The only party with a well reasoned policy are the Liberal Democrats - we just have to hope that they get enough of the vote next year to do some good.
You can help with this, Vote Liberal Democrat at the next election - If everybody who thought, "I would vote for them but they wont win" did, and if everybody who thought "they are all the same" gives us the chance to prove them wrong, then we have the opportunity to win by a landslide!
Do your bit for the future of Britain, Vote Liberal Democrat.
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