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When fuel prices are increased the costs related to a huge raft of consumer goods, foods, services, transport costs (public and private) and everyday essentials inevitably rise. As usual the government's approach hits the masses but featherbeds the "excessive expence account" politicians.

Also why does diesel fuel cost so much more in the UK than petrol. In virtually every other European country diesel is a much cheaper fuel - per litre.

Is this yet another example of the British people being ripped off by both it's incompetant, greedy government and the oil industry

I can't say I'm surprised, The labour government have treated the motorist as it's private treasure trove since the day it got in. What really makes me bloody angry is the price differential between petrol and deisel. You will find deisel is cheaper than petrol on the continent, in this country we are paying up to 13 pence per litre more! This cannot be right. I look forward to being canvassed by a labourite come the next election!

The question "Do you think the government should cut fuel tax instead of making motorists foot the bill for the credit crisis?" is framed so amateurishly that the whole exercise is invalidated. You might as well ask "Do you believe that good is better than bad?" It is simply absurd to build in the assertion that "the motorist" is being made to foot the bill. I am a motorist, a pedestrian, a cyclist, a user of trains, buses, etc, so why characterize people by their use of one mode of transport only? Answer: because you are not interested in having a mature debate about transport economics but prefer to use this site as a rabble-rousing single issue protest that denies the wider context of environmental and social issues.

After making apparently genuine efforts to stabilise the current financial difficulties this 2p increase seems to me a rather tasteless act.

They cut the VAT HA! HA! put up fuel tax so this hits everything that has to be delivered so how can anyone possibly put their goods down in price. As being disabled and pensioners we need our car for lots of hospital appointments ,OK we get a free bus pass but the walk to the bus stop either end of the journey is out of the question so our car is essential so this fuel tax will hit us hard.

The real problems are 1) Successive governments have frittered the North Sea reserves 2) Balance of payments deficit 3) Lack of a diversified economy 4) Too many bullshitters, and and not enough engineers in government.

Major manufacturers are deserting the UK so little work flows through to small employers. (A budget for) Industry is anathama to the career politicians who don't know that there are two 7 o'clocks in each day.

Time to end the belief that we can make enough money from taking in each others washing to enable the industrious th be taxed adequately to subsidise the feckless.

This is a joke nothing more than i expected off this govement but then again I DIDN'T VOTE FOR THEM. Even Richard (wont let me use the word D*^k) Turpin wore a mask.

Unbelievable! Only a couple of months ago they were urging oil companies to cut their prices because of how it affects our economy and now they have put the tax up themselves - how exactly is that going to help the economy Mr Darling? They seem to think we are too stupid to know what is going on.

So what's new! We have a Prime Minister who we are told doesn't drive and a Cabinet who are on salaries p;us lots of extras and perks most of the rest of us can only dream about. Anyway they are usually driven around in publically funded cars and they don't have to pay the perol or diesel used.

I like many other disabled people need my car to get around as the public transport where is virtually useless where wheelchairs are concerned and virtually non existant at the times I need to go out.

We get taxed enough in other respects, with the basic price of disabled equipment higher than anything needed for ablebodied, even without having to pay VAT on these products.

If the government wants to show the way forward to everyone including the opposition parties, they should start with getting their own house in order by taking pay cuts and cutting back on inflated expense accounts and pensions. Lets face it this is what Joe Public has to do, and they don't get a fat bonus when they do something wrong or have to leave the company they work for, for what ever reason.

Here we go again hit the poor motorist. Not like we are get the vat rebate...all the shops etc are saying it's too much hassle to change everything in such a short time. So us WORKING taxpayers are going to end up paying for it in the end. Typical labour. Penalise the working.

Never mind the fuel change - if he thinks that knocking 2.5% of vat - which is actually about 2.1% off prices will make us all rush to the shops and spend when 25% sale reductions hasn't he is on a different planet to me.

If he had spent the 12 billion on a fuel cost reduction people would have had more money in their pockets and felt better about it. But that would not have fitted in with the pretence about saving the environment.

In the fight against the profligate use of oil only price works. Higher prices lead to less consumption and greater investment in alternatives. I am not convinced this government raises prices for that reason but we will all benefit in the long run.

Taxing and charging the motorist is easy money for the government - and has got very little to do with enhancing the environment. And anyway, when we hear that massive borrowing is going to get us out of this credit crisis, isn't that what started the problem in the first place? Much too complex for me, I think I'll just keep digging

They say that they will help the common man and women get through the current crisis but it seems a bit rich to cut tax in one way and raise it in another, how does that help ?

£2.50 back in every £100, not really going to help and will not encourage me to hit the shops, particularly as when paying it all back in fuel costs!!!

Sorry Mr D, but can you remind me again, where I will be better off!!!!

Disgraceful! Every day i have been watching petrol prices decrease and now this! Whats the point in reducing VAT to increase spending when we cant get to the places to spend money in the first place as petrol prices increase! Idea - why doesn't the chancellor take the profits Shell & BP have made this year and wipe out national debt???

Surely a long term rise in fuel tax is only going to increase the cost of transporting food, goods and materials around the country, which will worsen the credit crunch.

For a lot of people, the cost of travelling to work is a major expense, so to increase fuel tax in the long term is just waing matters worse!

Lets get one thing straight, Brown and his cronies have as much in common with the working man (and woman) as the royal family. I come from a long line of factory workers and was brought up on a council estate so no comments about my tory boy background.
You get what you deserve, you were all warned before the last general election what would happen, labour has ALWAYS taxed the working man to the hilt. Well you voted them in now you are stuck with them, we are firmly back to the early seventies big time, next it will be the three day week and power cuts etc. Better hope your grannie doesnt die she won't get buried.

The reality is they were never going to give us anything, I mean are we all going to rush out and buy Rhiddions new CD today (not that I would anyway) because it is 4p cheaper than yesterday? no, but we will buy more fuel for our cars to get to work, so, buy a cd and save 4p buy 5 litres of fuel and pay 10p more result? 6p worse off, not rocket science is it?

Wake up Britain you are being ripped off, next time you see that slobbering smile of Brown on the TV take a close look and ask yourself "would I buy a used car off this man" well would you?

Far too much self-pity round here. Fuel prices have recently dropped dramatically but I see no mention of that here. Be realistic.

In addition to this further tax on motorist , also remember if you use your car for work the 40p tax free allowance has not changed for over 5 years, also the difference between diesel and petol is now widening sometimes as much as 15p litre.Car parking fees, conjection charges,pay to park at work in the pipeline increase in insurance, increase in the cost of servicing, increase in environmental charges, yes that odd £5 to £6 each time you have a service, lets start a campaign to ask for the used part back and we will dispose of them ourselves, or is there a law against getting rid of your own used oil filter?

Sadly, we all knew it was coming! 6 months ago and cut in fuel duty may have been our saving grace! It would not have solved all the problems but it may have prevented some of them happening so quickly! The world is in melt down fronm the initial greed of a few - how quickly this all snowballs and look where we are now! Someone, somewhere is going to have to pay...oh yes, us in every which way possible - VAT cut - bah - what's the point - lots of work to make the changes on labels etc... - taxes...what else can they possibly do to us...
You all voted in the last election though! May be it's time to do the decent thing...but who looks any different! Much love and happiness - live life to the full, for tomorrow....who knows! J xx

The motorist yet again, WHY does he think we should have pay for his mistakes, just when fuel prices are starting to drop to a realistic price yet again the goverment slaps MORE TAX ON THE MOTORIST yet again. Personaly as i pensioner i have no more money in my pocket today to spend than i had yesterday so i wont be in a position to go out on a spending spree next week and does the chancellor realy think prices are going to come down in the shops on the 1st of december if so he is is living in cuckoo land?all that will happen is the small shop and big outlet iwill leave prices as they are and make a larger profit and we cant prove otherwise what the price was 7 days earlier or demand 2.5% off. what a mess any incoming goverment is left to take a country .

Yet again we are hit in the pocket by this raise. This time last year diesel was at the same price £1.05 a gallon so we are back to what it was but now with this price rise it's going on the up and before we know it we will be touching £1.15 by early in the new year. We need to get to work to earn the money but we are still being hit in the pocket. Surely there is soemthing else that can be done. He gets driven round in the car provided for him so bet he doesn't pay for his fuel. He wants to come and live a normal like most of the country and live on our wages.

once again the guy with a car will pay for labours failings
brown the unelected pm tells petrol companies to lower the price of petrol and then adds fuel tax ....... this was browns idea months ago

I am a believer that the people who created the problem should pay wholly for it. If I make a mistake, I apologise and make amends. Penalising innocent people went out with persecution of Christians.

I pay my taxes because I expect the roads to be lit and policed, children schooled etc. I don't however, want the backside ripped out of my purse to pay for something which subsidises people's bad spending habits and 'can't be bother' attitudes. I don't make unnecessary trips; think about how I use my car and its effect on the environment. Therefore, I should not be penalised for living within my means and thinking about others and the planet.

Ermm typical, I remember when the Labour Government was for the working man, now all the Government is is for wrecking the UK. Hitting the motorist well, why not, we have 24hr pub openings - more revenue - people drink more they cost extra money on Police to sort out their drunken brawls - why not after all it is the tax payers that have to pay for it, hit the drinkers for a change and put up beers and spirits, then the dole earners wont be able to afford to drink.

Why the motorist all the time? I have to survive on Benefits I have no choice because of my disability, I need my small car for hospital trips - hang on a minute I get 6p a mile from the government although the hospital is a round trip of 40 miles this doesnt even touch the cost of petrol, this country is turning out to be a rich mans' country, you have to be rich to live here - LABOUR MUST GO!!!!!! Don't forget people we have to pay for all the legal and illegal immigrants, not to mention all the rubbish in jail having a good time and who better than the motorist????

Do they think we are stupid???

What worries me about this lot is, spend spend spend.

When call me Dave gets in the Cupboard is bare, or even worse still, that's be sold off as well!!

Dave will have 5 years of bad stuff to hand out to Joe Public, Darling Gordon, hopes in 5 years time well give him another go cos Dave has been a bad lad!!

You couldn't make it up.

Alan MaC

fuel prices need to come down to assist all the small transport companies, diesel in particular costs too much to help industry.

As usual it is us, the poor motorist who gets screwed by this government. It is the easy option to increase duty on fuel and they know that they will get away with it.

WHY IS DIESEL 17P A LITRE MORE EXPENSIVE THAN UNLEADED!!!!

The main household expense for all people with families are, Food, petrol / diesel and domestic fuels.

With the cut in VAT the cost of food won't change as it is in the main part VAT free, we are now being faced with higher Petrol / Diesel costs and we will have to wait to see if the utilities companies will actual pass on this saving, which to be honest may save people at best £25 per £1,000 spend.

This action by Labour is nothing more than a smoke screen which will eventually lead to massive tax hikes to pay for the estimated £200+ Billion borrowed to shore up Labour's failed policies.

So after 11 years of a Labour Government, nothing has really changed, they balls things up, borrow obscene amounts on money, virtually bankrupt the country and then lose the next election, in all intends and purposes this could be the 1970's all over again.

successive govts have got us hooked on motoring through lack of forward planning and an integrated transport policy. now we're hooked - they put the price of the drug up. If you have to travel - to work/ shop / go to hospital you've GOT to use a car and therefore pay these prices......

workers revolt!

Typical "new" Labour. Don't these people realise that motorists are also electors and really resent being clobbered by their big brother tactics against them on an ongoing basis. It's humps, bumps, potholes and parking tickets not to menion huge taxation and zillions of cameras watching everything we do. We must ensure they pay for this at the next election

Surely the thing to note is that the poor, driving less efficient cars will suffer most from this. I can't see it as malign, merely incompetent

All I have to say is "Same sh*t different day"
Nothing we say or try and do is gonna make an ounce of difference.
They will do what they want and we will have to put up with it!!!

The giveth and they taketh away - why are we surprised?

The country's going to the dogs, companies are going bust, people are losing their jobs, everyone is struggling financially and what does this farce of a government do? It gives you a whopping 2.5% drop in VAT (whoopy do) so you can start spending again (dream on) but to compensate for that it sticks an extra 2p a litre fuel tax just when we have finally started to see a decent drop in petrol prices! Talk about a kick in the nuts when you're down!

It's about time these clowns were shown the door - they don't live in the real world, they earn enough so they don't have to worry about filling their cars with petrol or their trolley's with food - the rest of us are struggling. They may's well shove us all in the river and tell us to paddle upstream against the tides. We've got no chance!

I've got 3 kids, both myself and my husband work, we don't claim benefits and we are struggling big time to cope with the bills and rather than throw us a lifeline this government is standing on our heads pushing us under!

Gordon Brown & Alistair Darling, there is so much I would like to say and call you, alas if I did so on here my post would undoubtedly be removed but I will say this - I personally have ZERO confidence in your abilities to run this country and I'm not the only one who thinks so! This country is heading for meltdown and we've got you to thank!

Hardly surprising to see that; whilst the economy is on a slow down; the public become finacially resonsible for picking up the bill for poor financial management.
Will we ever see the day where a roadworker puts down his shovel and says "that's it, I'm finished"? No, there always another road to dig! Similarly, the government will always say there's yet another tax to pay, or like 'Oliver' can I have some more please?
An expensive country for the poor services we recieve and yet, with any other purchased service, you have the right to decide whether it's fit for purpose and the ability to retrun if not. Why don't we have the same right in our "democratic" society I wonder?

re 4 - yes but is there any truth in the rumour about free bus passes being withdrawn - they have certainly reduced local car journies with only 1 or 2 in the car

Livid of Langho