I WRITE in reply to J Holding's letter, BEN, August 22, where he suggests that motorists' anger at the ridiculously high cost of petrol is misplaced!
Does he consider that a 44pc increase in price since Mr Blair's government was elected to be reasonable, and paying 72p tax in every £1 we spend on petrol to be okay?
He cannot use the OPEC members, refiners, distributors or retailers as an excuse -- all the tax goes directly to Mr Blair's government!
He is correct in saying that motorists also have other high levels of expense, but wrong to suggest that these are outside of government control. Since Mr Blair's government was elected insurance premium tax has doubled, and premiums are predicted to increase by 25pc over the next 12 months as road traffic injury treatment costs are transferred from the "FREE" NHS to motorists' insurance premiums.
With the knock-on effects of Mr Blair's stealth taxes, he should not be surprised that 'garage repair costs and parts are even increasing' along with everything else, but to say that "we do not want to encourage more vehicles on the roads" to save the environment, when his New Labour Party are trying to force car manufacturers to reduce the price of new cars -- what a joke!
More cars equates to more tax equates to even more money for Mr Blair's government to waste on priority modernisation projects like the Millennium Dome.
John Winward
Chorley Road
Blackrod
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