Hello Dear Reader(s)!
Obviously, it has been a while since I updated this little Blog of mine, and being the creative, intelligent sort of chap that I am I could regale you all with a long list of witty, and undoubtedly far-fetched excuses as to why I have been absent for so long…..However, I am mellowing a bit in my old age, and feel that honesty is the best policy, I couldn’t be bothered really.
So why the update now? Well, to be honest, a few things have got my goat in recent weeks, so time to rant! By the way, for non-English readers, I don’t actually have a goat, nor has anyone stolen it.
Firstly, fuel and car tax in the UK. Clearly this a hot topic at the moment, with fuel prices showing their largest single month increase (6%) in the month of June. The government accounts for around 53% of the price of a litre at the moment, and people are up in arms all over the country. Now, firstly, our fuel is not the most expensive in Europe despite what the tabloids will have you believe, but our government does take the largest proportion of the sale price in Europe. I for one have no real problem with the price of fuel at the moment – obviously it is expensive, but oil is a commodity, and prices fluctuate. The fact that it is a finite and non-renewable commodity means that almost by definition the price will increase. This much I understand. Demand is increasing globally for oil, based primarily on the rapid development of the so-called BRIC countries (Brasil, Russia, India, China), yet the current spike in prices is not as a result of this demand, but rather an artificially created “shortage” instigated by the oil companies and OPEC – who are keen to take advantage of the surge in demand. This is where the problem lies, and where our attention should be focussed clearly.
That being said, these companies and countries can more or less do what they like, as they are privately owned, and just happen to produce and sell something everyone in the world needs. Fair? Not for me to say, but in capitalist world who can judge the fairness of anything?
Secondly, car tax in the UK/. This week our embattled PM finally admitted that under new car tax laws around 9million car owners would be worse off. Hardly a surprise really, everyone worked this one out straight away. The problem is the increase in duty on old cars, which are by nature more likely to be heavier polluters. Think about it for a second, the change in the law punishes those who own large cars with high emissions and low performance – read, 4x4, sports cars, large executive saloons etc – and anyone who owns old, high polluting vehicles – read any car owned by people on low incomes. So essentially, if you can afford to buy a Lexus 4x4 you pay an extra £150 a year as punishment for owning a gas guzzler. And if you cant afford anything more than a 12 year old VW Polo, well guess, what, you have to pay an extra £150 too. Fair? See above.
So what is the solution? First thing I would do, is scrap the retroactive nature of the tax, apply it to all new cars by all means, but at least give people the choice to buy a car with all the information to hand. Use the cash to improve public transport while we are at it too. Secondly, forget taxing the end user – as I have already suggested those who choose to buy a car with high-emissions can afford the extra couple of hundred quid, so it is neither an apt punishment nor a deterrent. Instead, hit the car manufacturers. As a country we could set limits on emissions for all vehicles, meaning the manufacturers would be obliged to change their cars at risk of losing a market in which to sell them. Tell ford that unless they halve the emissions of all their cars we will not allow them into the country, and you may get somewhere.
Moving on. Mugabe. It has all been said a hundred times before I’m sure, but it is beginning to piss me off now. The guy is a murderer, a tyrant, a despot and I am willing to bet he used to steal peoples dinner money at school. For years he has been killing, stealing and generally ruining Zimbabwe while the rest of the world looks on. It is a similar situation to the one in Iraq in many respects, the country is run by a dictator, different ethnic groupings are being targeted and murdered, there are no free elections, no semblance of democracy and oh, before I forget, the west (read the UK and US) helped create the situation. I will spare you the details, but the US and UK governments helped Saddam Hussein come to power, and also helped hand over the former UK Colony of Rhodesia to Mr Mugabe. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not for one minute suggesting Rhodesia was in particularly good hands before Mugabe took power, Apartheid however it is dressed up is morally, ethically, politically and well any other kind of Wrong frankly.
But I digress, the point is why did the world intervene in Iraq, while we leave Zimbabwe to rot? If you don’t know, go back and read the first part of this update. Fair? See above again.
Right, that’s enough from me for now, rant over.
Viva La Revolución!!
Hasta luego compaňeros !
Obviously, it has been a while since I updated this little Blog of mine, and being the creative, intelligent sort of chap that I am I could regale you all with a long list of witty, and undoubtedly far-fetched excuses as to why I have been absent for so long…..However, I am mellowing a bit in my old age, and feel that honesty is the best policy, I couldn’t be bothered really.
So why the update now? Well, to be honest, a few things have got my goat in recent weeks, so time to rant! By the way, for non-English readers, I don’t actually have a goat, nor has anyone stolen it.
Firstly, fuel and car tax in the UK. Clearly this a hot topic at the moment, with fuel prices showing their largest single month increase (6%) in the month of June. The government accounts for around 53% of the price of a litre at the moment, and people are up in arms all over the country. Now, firstly, our fuel is not the most expensive in Europe despite what the tabloids will have you believe, but our government does take the largest proportion of the sale price in Europe. I for one have no real problem with the price of fuel at the moment – obviously it is expensive, but oil is a commodity, and prices fluctuate. The fact that it is a finite and non-renewable commodity means that almost by definition the price will increase. This much I understand. Demand is increasing globally for oil, based primarily on the rapid development of the so-called BRIC countries (Brasil, Russia, India, China), yet the current spike in prices is not as a result of this demand, but rather an artificially created “shortage” instigated by the oil companies and OPEC – who are keen to take advantage of the surge in demand. This is where the problem lies, and where our attention should be focussed clearly.
That being said, these companies and countries can more or less do what they like, as they are privately owned, and just happen to produce and sell something everyone in the world needs. Fair? Not for me to say, but in capitalist world who can judge the fairness of anything?
Secondly, car tax in the UK/. This week our embattled PM finally admitted that under new car tax laws around 9million car owners would be worse off. Hardly a surprise really, everyone worked this one out straight away. The problem is the increase in duty on old cars, which are by nature more likely to be heavier polluters. Think about it for a second, the change in the law punishes those who own large cars with high emissions and low performance – read, 4x4, sports cars, large executive saloons etc – and anyone who owns old, high polluting vehicles – read any car owned by people on low incomes. So essentially, if you can afford to buy a Lexus 4x4 you pay an extra £150 a year as punishment for owning a gas guzzler. And if you cant afford anything more than a 12 year old VW Polo, well guess, what, you have to pay an extra £150 too. Fair? See above.
So what is the solution? First thing I would do, is scrap the retroactive nature of the tax, apply it to all new cars by all means, but at least give people the choice to buy a car with all the information to hand. Use the cash to improve public transport while we are at it too. Secondly, forget taxing the end user – as I have already suggested those who choose to buy a car with high-emissions can afford the extra couple of hundred quid, so it is neither an apt punishment nor a deterrent. Instead, hit the car manufacturers. As a country we could set limits on emissions for all vehicles, meaning the manufacturers would be obliged to change their cars at risk of losing a market in which to sell them. Tell ford that unless they halve the emissions of all their cars we will not allow them into the country, and you may get somewhere.
Moving on. Mugabe. It has all been said a hundred times before I’m sure, but it is beginning to piss me off now. The guy is a murderer, a tyrant, a despot and I am willing to bet he used to steal peoples dinner money at school. For years he has been killing, stealing and generally ruining Zimbabwe while the rest of the world looks on. It is a similar situation to the one in Iraq in many respects, the country is run by a dictator, different ethnic groupings are being targeted and murdered, there are no free elections, no semblance of democracy and oh, before I forget, the west (read the UK and US) helped create the situation. I will spare you the details, but the US and UK governments helped Saddam Hussein come to power, and also helped hand over the former UK Colony of Rhodesia to Mr Mugabe. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not for one minute suggesting Rhodesia was in particularly good hands before Mugabe took power, Apartheid however it is dressed up is morally, ethically, politically and well any other kind of Wrong frankly.
But I digress, the point is why did the world intervene in Iraq, while we leave Zimbabwe to rot? If you don’t know, go back and read the first part of this update. Fair? See above again.
Right, that’s enough from me for now, rant over.
Viva La Revolución!!
Hasta luego compaňeros !
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