rising fuel costs ? whose up for a peaceful protest

[vwaddict]

ok guys as we are all aware fuel prices are at an all time high .another forum im a member of are planning to do a co ordinated protest in our vee dubs throughout the uk we plan to drive in convoy on the major motorways eg m1 ,m5 ,m6,m8 etc hopefully with a few banners etc explaining our cause .i must stress this will be a peacefull protest and will not affect emergency vehicles etc it is not a blockade it is merely a rolling convoy at 40mph or so .at the minute we do not have a fixed date hopefully in a few weeks time .we are looking to enlist as many vw vehicles as possible and are approaching other vw forums if interested in making a stand and joining us please list your name and prefered location below cheers .
p.s if you are under the illusion that rising fuel does not affect you think again

 

[Htotheunit]

Sounds like a fun day out!.. I may do the M6, possibly M5 too... If i can afford the fuel :x

 

[Shaggy]

If the day is good and its in about two weeks I am in, M6 M5 or M1 I am near all

 

[Clem]

Who is the protest aimed at, and what is the aim?

The recent rises are part of a global rise in oil prices, and Im not sure what protesting will acheive :? Govt taxes are high, of course, but arent part of the recent hikes .. that is down to market forces, is it not?

 

[BigG]

Hear what your saying clem but if everyones paying the same price for a barrel of oil then why we paying more for our fuel than most of our european neighbours and nearly twice as much than the Americans?
Good excuse for a big VW cruise though :wink: but 40 mph :shock: whats the rush.

 

[Clem]

Dunno, I thought we were paying a 'similar' amount to the surrounding Euro counties and the American gallon has rocketed of late. It 'seems' cheap to us in the US but they dont earn (on average) twice what we do, so the bonkers current exchange rate is irrelevant, they are used to much cheaper oil traditionally ....

Dont get me worng the price of fuel at the moment seems unsustainable, Im not not sure whats going to have to give. I 'suspect' it will be our consumption rather than a Govt climbdown.

 

[BigG]

Cant see a government climbdown, best you can hope for is a freeze for a period of time.
Doesnt seem to be putting too many people off at the moment though, I work in a school and the mums in their 4X4s are still driving the kids in from 2 streets away :?

 

[Shaggy]

For one I agree with Clem, we are running out of oil and demand is going up, the price of oil will always rise, not much we can do about that, plus we are not the most efficient bunch of drivers on the road, I am sure it could be classed as a bit of a piss take...haha

Still I am up for a cruise.

I think we all need to be focused on saving energy where we can, not relying on cars but enjoying them more, I for one now take the bus to work and enjoy the van much more as I don't rely on it.

 

[Guest]

Who is the protest aimed at, and what is the aim?

The recent rises are part of a global rise in oil prices, and Im not sure what protesting will acheive :? Govt taxes are high, of course, but arent part of the recent hikes .. that is down to market forces, is it not?

yes and no. the government charge a percentage of fuel tax so for every penny a barrel of oil goes up the govt get around 60% duty. the Govt are part responsible for a hike as the price of crude goes up so does the tax and overall price. Without tax a litre of fuel would be @ 54p

You woulndt believe how much the Govt make from a 1p rise per litre! so its in their interest to keep prices high. They tax the oil companies, the they tax the companies that transport the oil to us, and they tax us as well :evil: .

 

[Araon]

The tax on fuel is inversely proportional to the rise in price as the price of a barrel rises the percentage govt tax at the pump decreases granted nowhere near enough to offset the huge hikes..... The oil companies are indeed hitting remarkable profits with dwindling stocks that said they are investing heavily into accessing the previously un recoverable stocks as a well when shut down still retains approx 60% of its reserves....

so its a bit of a difficult one to protest and retain some perspective on the overal picture personally I dont think the govt are doing enough to make public transport for the masses more appealing....the only sure way to get people out of there cars and ontp PT is to make it so unbelievably cheap/free that people are willing to go a little out of there way to make the effort....

 

[Shaggy]

Agreed, at the moment it cost me £20 a week on the bus and 2 hours out of my day and I only do 15 miles each way, if I had a KA or other small car I would cost me about the same in petrol, or course there is wear and tear of a car and the general out lay but people don't seem to think about that to much its just the direct hit to there pockets at the pumps.

We need a good angle to protest on.

 

[bigsid]

Can't help thinking there is nothing to protest about here.

Demand for oil is increasing, but stocks are finite so prices will inevitably rise.

As for the government tax, its always possible to create enough political pressure that fuel duty will be reduced, but at the end of the day if we want hospitals schools etc its got to be raised from somewhere, so some other tax will have to rise to compensate.

 

[Shaggy]

I think the only thing to protest about is to get the government to think about making public transport cheeper, I don't we could do that in our vans though. At the end of the day we need as a nation to change the way we think that is the only way change will happen

 

[Guest]

Higher prices are a direct result of demand and with developing countries like China, now over taking the US on oil consumption, you cant help but see the price continue to rise and rise. I predict it will top £1.80 a litre pretty soon I read one survey that this was the price per litre that alot of people would stop using their cars and own transport.

I agree with shaggy, its just not economic or convient to take public transport, prices are also on a steep rise as they are under the same fuel pressures.

 

[mIKe cAIn]

WHAT A POINTLESS THING TO DO - LETS PROTEST ABOUT FUEL PRICES AND USE A WHOLE LOAD OF FUEL IN THE PROCESS COSTING ANY DRIVER WHO PARTICIPATES!

:? :!: :?: :?

 

[Shaggy]

thats not a waist thats the VW Bus way....hehe

We should just have a big cruise

 

[Araon]

Now if they were scrapping the historic vehicle tax relief then that is a protest worth getting involved in.......

 

[Shaggy]

Did you not know Araon they are, quick lets go!

 

[baron]

hang on, this sounds political!!! :wink:

but hey ho, lets wade in....

i wouldn't go on a protest, nor would i support one, and i think the scene would look bad as a result

sure petrol prices are kicking in the back pocket like a mule BUT oil is a finite resource, production is slowing, peak oil is on the way, demand is rising and we drive some of the least fuel efficient vehicles out there. do the math and think how it would look

we should be driving less not more!!!

i often wonder about the carbon footprint of vw shows - for what, to sit around looking at more polluters :?:

but of course there is some benefit from owning a camper, if it means you do less airflights abroad and enjoy the delights that the uk has on offer. in future, this will be the thing to do holiday wise, cos we won't be able to afford anything else, and better in a camper than a caravan :shock:

yes of course government should be looking at how we can support a transition to a lower carbon economy, starting with local public transport, and in the long term long distance high speed rail :roll:

personally, I'm hoping that fuel cells will be more efficient so i can fit one in the van, and drive a heritage classic free of eco guilt

imo we actually need higher oil prices, that will drive innovation that will secure some of the technological fixes we so desparately need

we need to wake up and smell the coffee (frsh air), not stick our head in the (oil) sand. we had it too good for too long as it's not sustainable, summats got to give

 

[Shaggy]

One interesting fact dude we hit oil peak in the 70's FACT!

I would like to just add I am glad this issue got posted and I am glad people are starting to feel like we need to do something to take control and we can. Maybe this issue is not the best one to protest, but others would be good.