DIDN’T the Tories promise to reduce duty on fuel in their election manifesto? And didn’t Labour do the same under Tony Blair?
Motorists are an easy target when it comes to tax hikes and we are used to these empty promises. Fuel prices are, simply, a Government rip-off.
The biggest rip-off at the pumps was changing from gallons to litres, the new measurements disguising the fact that prices had jumped yet again.
Motorists and hauliers have been ripped off systematically over the years by the oil companies and by the Government, in more ways than one.
The Green Party wants to increase fuel prices even further in the hope of reducing the use of our cars and ‘saving the planet’.
If government was serious about this, their planners would have not allowed supermarkets and industrial units to be built out of town, forcing us to use cars to get to them.
Homes and businesses would have been planned in a pleasant urban environment so that people would have done less commuting and the M62 wouldn’t be one big car park every morning and evening.
I can envisage diesel at £1.50p to £1.70p a litre by midsummer and petrol £1.40p to £1.60p. This will have nothing to do with the world price of a barrel of oil.
When the price of oil drops it’s months before the consumer sees any reduction at the pumps and when it does come down, it’s only by 1p or 2p, but when world price of a barrel of oil increases the increase is immediate at the pumps, by 5p to 10p.
We are being ripped off. What are we going to do about it? Nothing.
Alan Parkinson
Upper Cumberworth
Government gold mine
DENIS Kilcommons wrote recently that ‘everything seems to cost more’.
This Government implies it is not their fault and they can do nothing about it. But that’s not true in the case of diesel and petrol.
One of the most influential factors in the UK economy is our dependency on carbon-based fuels. This Government imposes a massive 86p per litre tax on these fuels which is made up of 58p per litre fuel duty and 20% VAT of about 28p a litre.
This tax is about £3.87p per gallon. But the money we use to pay for the fuel has already been taxed so the amount of tax we pay on fuel goes up to more than £4 a gallon.
Taking everything into account, the fuel arrives at the pump having cost about 51p a litre, or 2.30p a gallon. This means the Government makes more money than the producer, supplier and retailer put together.
If the Government was to just double the price of fuel and take half, it would be a huge reduction in the cost and would benefit everyone from large fleet operators to the individual motorist.
David Townend
Linthwaite
Restaurant plans
I READ with amazement that Kirklees Council leader Clr Mehboob Khan wants plans for a restaurant in the old Videotech shop on Cross Church Street, Huddersfield to go ahead.
He was quoted in the Examiner (March 2) as saying: ‘A new restaurant would not increase late night disorder.’
Planning officers opposed the application on the basis that it would increase crime and unsociable behaviour on the short street that already has seven takeaways and three bars. So, application denied.
West Yorkshire police also objected to the plan on the grounds that the numerous late night establishments in this street have been the focus for much anti-social behaviour and violent crime.
So what makes Clr Khan better qualified to push this application forward, after the planning officials in Kirklees and West Yorkshire Police have both opposed it?
Who would want to go to a restaurant while the police are outside trying to break up fights and battle anti-social behaviour?
If this does get planning approval and the restaurant opens, I’m convinced it will be a short-lived business. Then we are back to square one – sadly another empty property on Huddersfield streets.
Keith Bagot
Honley
Keeping up appearances
THERE is plenty of coverage in the Examiner about fly tipping and the state of our highways and byways. I wonder what impression we make on visitors to this part of Yorkshire. It makes me feel ashamed.
There is a ready army of offenders in community payback schemes who could make a difference to the appearance of Kirklees and Calderdale if the worst spots could be identified and targeted by council officers. But it doesn’t seem to happen.
Anthony Smith
Springwood
Friendly and informal
I MUST say how much I agree with Alan Parkinson (Mailbag, March 3) about informed relationships between hospital staff and patients.
He writes from 37 years’ experience of working in the NHS, rightly condemning the formal approach favoured by the Commission of Dignity in Care.
I write from the viewpoint of having been a hospital patient in Huddersfield on several occasions.
Each hospital stay has put me at ease and made me feel well cared for by nurses and others who adopted a friendly, informal attitude which included use of my first name and the term ‘love’.
For goodness sake let’s have some common sense and understanding on this issue.
Let communicating remain on present terms, with all its attendant benefits.
Mike Shaw
Cowlersley
This is our country
TWO items of news caught my attention recently.
First, that our immigration policies allow 600,000 people a year into the country and, second, that troops from Yorkshire regiments are returning for another tour of duty in Afghanistan.
I can’t understand why our young people are being sent into battle in a conflict we can’t win and which is no concern of ours anyway.
Our nation’s first concern should be the safety and wellbeing of its own population. These troops should be brought home and deployed as a first line of defence at ports and airports.
If Europe doesn’t like it they should be told bluntly this is our country and we will do as we want.
Jack Armitage
Huddersfield
A friendly reviewer
AS secretary of Colne Valley Art Society I would like to echo the sentiments expressed by Mr Matthew Evans in his recent letter.
Apart from one or two years due to illness, David Hammond always viewed our annual exhibitions and wrote a report in the Examiner. We regarded him as a friend who would always stop for a chat when met around the town or at other functions.
He was very talented himself and we always admired his photography exhibits.
He will certainly be missed by many people in many ways.
Diana D Powell
Colne Valley Art Society
Fares not fair
COLUMNIST Denis Kilcommons (Monday, February 27) wrote about the idea to cancel free bus passes for pensioners and the repercussions that would have on mobility and quality of lifer for the elderly.
Well, the persecution of pensioners has already begun (in West Yorkshire) with Metro cancelling the 50p fixed rate per journey on the rail network and replacing it with half adult fare for pensioner pass holders.
I sympathise with all rail users at the recent hike in fares of up to 8%, but the increases for aged persons is up to 500% or more!
This has the immediate effect of restricting the mobility and quality of life for many pensioners.
Of course, the longer the journey the higher the fare has become and pensioners wishing to travel across the region will be hardest hit. No more cheap days out in Ilkley or Hebden Bridge and suchlike.
It’s all very well to say that if the fare is more than £3.10 a concessional Day Rover can be bought. Not much use if you intend staying overnight with family or friends. The former £1 return journey becomes £6.20! It doesn’t take a genius to work out the percentage increase here.
Senior politicians are saying it’s a good thing we are all living longer. It doesn’t feel that way.
R Crawshaw
Wakefield
Booze money
AN alcohol retail licence applicant tells officials he’s applying because ‘I want to make money’.
No sign of social responsibility there, then. Good to see the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking.
Allen Jenkinson
Milnsbridge
