Petrol prices

Every so often someone wants to involve me in a campaign to lower petrol prices. I invariably decline and in this blog post, or rant - we'll see how it turns out - I shall attempt to explain my reasons.

Primarily, I don't think that petrol prices are too high. I can afford to fill my tank up, and last time I checked the roads were full of other people who had managed to fill up too. If people want to save money on motoring I suggest selling cars and using public transport.

Secondarily, everyone wants public transport to be better  but I think the only way this is going to happen is if more people use it. Higher petrol costs would give an incentive to use it.

Finally, since the more people use their cars the more petrol they have to buy this is the fairest way to tax motoring. I think that Road Tax should be integrated into fuel tax, this would benefit people who have a car but use it only sparingly but would transfer the cost of road maintenance etcetera to the people who use the roads most.

In summary, I will not sign your petition.