The Business of crippling UK petrol prices

What I am about to say is hardly anything new, but I thought that with the next increase in fuel duty set in just over one month’s time (1st April) that now is the time that we at the Business Anarchist addressed the ever growing burden of UK petrol prices on not only the individual, but on the economy in Britain today.


No-one today can escape from the effects on their household and business budgets of this ludicrous and apparently never ending rise in fuel prices.

A 76p increase on the 1st January 2011 brought the duty rate on main road fuels up to 58.95p per litre, coinciding with the 2.5% increase in VAT rate, which is now at record high of 20%!

I am sure I have no need to remind you that the cost of fuel effects the transportation of just about everything, and therefore the cost of just about everything.

And what really rubs salt in the wound is ridiculous comments from some of the oil giants themselves, such as the boss of Oil-Giant Shell who sparked fury by stating that his firm were “suffering like motorists”, despite its recent announcement of a $18.6bn profit for the last year.

$18.6bn!!! Many of us today are used to hearing governments and big business make throw away comments regarding millions here and billions there. It is time to stop desensitising ourselves to this and recognise just how much a billion is. Did you know that 1 million seconds is the equivalent of almost 3 months? And 1 billion seconds (that is 1,000,000,000 seconds) works out at just over 32 years. 32 YEARS!!! So 18.6bn seconds is approximately 595 years!!!

So I think to compare the hardship of honest hardworking people, of our businesses, of our families to the apparent ‘hardships’ of these Oil-giants is ludicrous. Stop taxing us and start taxing them!!!