Petrol prices near new high
Thursday 1st April 2010, 11:38AM BST.
Petrol prices will edge closer to a record high today when motorists will be hit with a 1p a litre fuel duty increase.
The rise will take prices from an average of 117.8p a litre to just under 119p – almost up to the record of 119.7p reached in 2008.
The pain could have been even greater for road users if Chancellor Alistair Darling had not decided to introduce the near-3p fuel duty rise – scheduled for April 1 – in three stages.
Drivers will now pay an extra 1p from today, a further 1p in October and another 0.76p next January.
RAC motoring strategist Adrian Tink said: “This fuel duty increase is only going to add to the misery as motorists see their hard-earned cash swallowed up at the pumps.”
Motorists will from today also be hit by the “showroom tax” which will mean those buying the most-polluting new models will have to pay higher vehicle excise duty (VED) for the first year.
Those purchasing cars that emit more than 255g of CO2 per one kilometre will have to pay VED of £950 for the first year.
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When will it all end?
The Chancellor puts on a penny, the oil companies put on two, telling us that although oil is now at $80 a barrel its the cost of the exchange rate that is driving up the pump price. When oil was $150 a barrel petrol was 119.9 a litre and no one can justify that the exchange rate. Then they say its the cost of production going up, but they are laying people of and asking for pay cuts.
Perhaps the Chancellor should go and see the oil companies and introduce a windfall tax on there profits,(currently measured in billions and stand up for the meny moterists, not the few oil companies.
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Thank you Darling!
More stealth tax
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Well said Bazza.
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This government will do absolutely nothing for the motorist, except try and persecute them with taxes, speed reductions, congestion making traffic lights, the list goes on. The only way forward, is to rid this country of the car haters in office.
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i like driving, so i reckon a good as reason as any to vote out the labour lot is that they dont seem to like the drivers, lets get a new government who arent so wishy washy greeny weeny and get some more motorways built and bring the price of fuel down, its impertative for the economy and it makes my life easier, so we cant control supply and demand for oil but we can get rid of petrochemical junkie gordon brown at the ballot box and thus bring down the cost of driving for all
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