Petrol Prices blog highlights danger of Gordon Brown's fuel duty increase

27th September 2007

In the last 5 days nearly 80,000 visitors have logged on to Petrol Prices to vote and comment on Gordon Brown's proposal to raise fuel duty by an extra 2.35 pence per litre later this week.

The blog was released via email to Petrol Prices members on September 27th and included a users' opinion poll. To date, more than 76,000 votes have flooded the site.

The poll asked: "Should the government do a U-turn and scrap the extra 2.35p tax on fuel because of unexpectedly high oil prices already hitting motorists hard?"

As of October 1st, the week Brown's proposal is due to begin, 89% of the members have voted YES and an 11% minority have sided with Brown's proposal and voted NO.

The overwhelming majority of users who have written in to Petrol Prices are against the added tax.

The following comment by "LearJet" (user name) reflects the general attitude of the users who took the time to write in:

"At this late stage the Government will not to reverse their increase in Fuel Duty. There is another 2.00p/litre increase due April 1st 2008, 6 months down the road. The present Government is borrowing far too much money to "throw" at various projects, claiming things are getting better. Sooner or later you have to pay the "piano player." The only way to raise revenue is from the general public through "taxes and charges." The "disposable income" of the general public is shrinking faster than they can earn it."

Thousands of users who wrote in have encouraged others to sign an online petition to 10 Downing Street calling for a halt to the proposed hike.

Notes for Editors

Read the full blog article and comments here: www.petrolprices.com/blog

Petrolprices.com is the UK’s only comprehensive and free fuel price website for consumers, where they can find the cheapest petrol stations near any town or postcode of their choice. Prices are updated daily and displayed conveniently using Google Maps technology.

Petrolprices.com was launched in November 2005 by Fubra Limited, the same company that launched the largest UK house price website www.ourproperty.co.uk in January 2005.

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