Fuel Protest

[DaBeeeenster]

I dunno- maybe a wholesale cull of the 'delivery managers', 'diversity managers' and £200k a year council 'Chief Exectutives' would be a good place to start. In fairness though, the government are at least doing something to cut back on bureaucracy, my £16k junior admin job ceases to exist in 6 months time. Just gotta find a way to hop on the consultancy gravy train now. Maybe I'll specialise in 'delivering diversity'.

This entire "bureaucracy in government" is a mirage IMHO. I've done a lot of consultancy work in the public sector, and my company has a number of publc sector clients. The fact of the matter is that large organisations are wasteful. Modern business practises are helping to reduce this waste, but the notion that there is a magic bullet of "reducing paperwork" that can shave billions off public sector spending is naive at best.

[Rave]

This entire "bureaucracy in government" is a mirage IMHO. I've done a lot of consultancy work in the public sector, and my company has a number of publc sector clients. The fact of the matter is that large organisations are wasteful. Modern business practises are helping to reduce this waste, but the notion that there is a magic bullet of "reducing paperwork" that can shave billions off public sector spending is naive at best.

I know. Seems to me this government has gone out of its way to increase spending on spurious layers of upper and middle management though. Anyway, to answer your original question of where to find the billions of pounds to fund a cut in the price of fuel: how about not doing any more PFI deals? They are shockingly poor value for money, yet the government has an absolute mania for them. They're stealing from the taxpayer to give to the rich IMO.

Not that I actually support a cut in fuel duty....I'd prefer the money to go towards prison reform etc. and building affordable housing.

[jimborae]

This entire "bureaucracy in government" is a mirage IMHO. I've done a lot of consultancy work in the public sector, and my company has a number of publc sector clients. The fact of the matter is that large organisations are wasteful. Modern business practises are helping to reduce this waste, but the notion that there is a magic bullet of "reducing paperwork" that can shave billions off public sector spending is naive at best.

How about not employing consultants in the public sector for a start

That was joke just so we're clear, I do realise the need but I do see precious resources being wasted on consultants in the company I work for.

[DaBeeeenster]

I know. Seems to me this government has gone out of its way to increase spending on spurious layers of upper and middle management though. Anyway, to answer your original question of where to find the billions of pounds to fund a cut in the price of fuel: how about not doing any more PFI deals? They are shockingly poor value for money, yet the government has an absolute mania for them. They're stealing from the taxpayer to give to the rich IMO.

Not that I actually support a cut in fuel duty....I'd prefer the money to go towards prison reform etc. and building affordable housing.

Wholeheartedly agree RE PFI. Total shocker.

[5lab]

personally i think we should cut our armed forces right back. granted they give a lot of people jobs, but tehre is just no need at all for us to have a presence anywhere in the world but here. if we had no armed forces at all, then the rest of the UN would step in and protect us, so why bother (i'm not suggesting we have none, i just think we should pull out of every non-uk country).. that would save hundreds of millions per year

i also think that council housing should be re-introduced. most council houses (not flats) are now privately owned, and the areas they are in have turnen into nice areas - if you intersperce council housing with normal housing then you shouldnt get problem spots..

[Firelord]

How about the millions spend (and time) on the fox hunting ban? To me that was a complete waste of time and should have been sorted in a week not the length of time it did.

This country has recently been obsessed with blaming the motorist for all sorts from accidents to pollution and not seem to be doing anything about it ie providing grants to help companies introduce cleaner vehicles or greener transport.

As a driver (and an avid one) I am fed up of being penalised for driving a car through taxes and duty etc when the costs can be found else where.

For instance how many 'people' live on benefits when they could be out working? How many of these 'people' do you see smoking and drinking and dressed well? All that money that they get is squandered. Now there is genuine cases and they should gte benefits but there are lots of 'people' out there abusing the system. Think of the savings that could be had by reducing benefits to the lazy people and making them get jobs that could be put to use in the health service or towards better pay for those that deservere it ie teachers, nurses, firefighters, police etc

I would rather see another 15p on my pint and 15p less on my petrol because I know which I use more off!

[Rave]

I would rather see another 15p on my pint and 15p less on my petrol because I know which I use more off!

As long as you're O.K. then.

[Firelord]

As long as you're O.K. then.

Thats just my personal opinion and I would rather pay more tax on alcohol than petrol no need for the really is there

[Rave]

Thats just my personal opinion and I would rather pay more tax on alcohol than petrol no need for the really is there

Well, there is, because litre for litre I drink a lot more beer than I put petrol in my car. Beer is at most 10% hydrocarbons as opposed to pretty much 100% for petrol/diesel; even if I later output the whole 10% as CO2 and water I'm still releasing only 10% of the greenhouse gasses that you would burning the fuel in a car....and yet beer is taxed at 30p-ish a litre compared to 40p for petrol. In terms of the environmental damage, petrol should be taxed WAY higher.

So the was basically at your selfishness.

[Firelord]

So the was basically at your selfishness.

I could turn around and say the same thing that you don't want it on your pint but on petrol

I wish they made greener cars and they were reliable, long lasting, cheap and had good range but at the moment they suck as the technology is too big and too immature still.....

The Government is not doing enough to a) lower the costs of fuel and b) help fund newer more efficient fuel alternatives....

People rely on cars to get to work (they may not have public transport in their area like my own village) or to get them to hospitals or too work but yet they get penalised for this with no real way out.....

People don't need alcohol but yet consume in great amounts; surely as its a commidity and not a neccessity it should be taxed greater than fuel...

Selfishness my arse!

EDIT: In addition how do you propose people to do their family shops or get to work with no real alternative to petrol? Its either petrol or diesel; we have no recharge stations or other forms of reliable fuel in reality.

So in essence with no real alternative to the issue of petrol usage we get penalised instead... if I could drive a green car I would but I can't and I certainly can't take 3 pcs and 3 monitors on a train with me can I now...

[Rave]

I could turn around and say the same thing that you don't want it on your pint but on petrol

No, because I've not proposed any change to the status quo.

I wish they made greener cars and they were reliable, long lasting, cheap and had good range but at the moment they suck as the technology is too big and too immature still.....

Well the new Fiat Panda, and even the new diesel Astra, can easily manage well over 50MPG now. The technology is there to make cars very efficient.

The Government is not doing enough to a) lower the costs of fuel and b) help fund newer more efficient fuel alternatives....

They're doing nothing to lower the cost of fuel in fact. I agree they should be doing more to improve public transport and encourage the adoption of greener cars e.g. LPG or biodiesel powered.

People rely on cars to get to work (they may not have public transport in their area like my own village) or to get them to hospitals or too work but yet they get penalised for this with no real way out.....

EDIT: In addition how do you propose people to do their family shops or get to work with no real alternative to petrol?

Well there IS an alternative- live in a town like me. You'll pay a load more in rent and mortgage, but then you won't need to buy nearly as much petrol as you can walk to the shops. It's swings and roundabouts. If you choose to live in the country for the cheaper houses/nicer surroundings or whatever reason, then it's entirely fair that you should pay more for your transport in return, since you're polluting the atmosphere a lot more as a result.

So in essence with no real alternative to the issue of petrol usage we get penalised instead... if I could drive a green car I would but I can't

Why not?

[5lab]

EDIT: In addition how do you propose people to do their family shops or get to work with no real alternative to petrol? Its either petrol or diesel; we have no recharge stations or other forms of reliable fuel in reality.

they can walk. when i grew up (late 80s) my folks had a car that they put an average of 4k on per year, at least 50% of which was a family holiday. we'd walk to school, walk to the shops, walk to our friends houses. as a result me and my 2 siblings were very fit and healthy, as we covered about 4-5 miles per day.


granted, having a car is a handy luxury, but for 95% of the population, it is JUST THAT - a luxury..