Everyone moans about petrol prices. It’s a national trait a bit like talking about the weather. But why haven’t ours dropped as much as they have in the USA?
When I was over there in January they were about $4.30 a gallon. (say about £2.90.) That alone is enough to make any driver’s blood boil. Rather than bringing back duty free booze how about bringing back duty free petrol? Now their fuel has dropped to about $3.25-$3.40 a gallon and expectations are that it will drop even further. So their fuel has dropped by getting on for 25%. And what of ours? From the nine garages within about a five mile radius of me the prices have dropped from about £1.41 to £1.34 a litre. Not even 10%. If we were on a par with the US the price should be about £1.10.
Such a drop would not only be a stimulus to the economy by cutting transport costs but with the holiday season coming up it would also encourage us to make day trips and invest in our own tourism. The day trip is a major part of tourism. We all do it and some travel can’t all be done on prublic transport. Try going from Guildford to Hastings by train for example. It takes over three hours. Go by car and its half that time. The price of petrol will always be a factor in what we visit and where we go. Regardless of being “green,” some destinations wouldn’t get any tourism if not for the car. The north west of Scotland for example or the Scottish Borders, places like Kelso and Melrose. Tregaron in Mid Wales or the Brecon Beacons and St David’s in Pembrokeshire or the Keilder Forest in Northumberland would similarly be affected and readers could name hundreds more
In the US it seems that car drivers have more clout then we do. When they scream, something happens. Or it’s coincidence. When we scream nobody listens. Unless it is to oppose an increase and then we have to scream long and loud as well as threaten as happened a few years ago. Why has the AA and the RAC been quiet? Why haven’t the lorry drivers and the distribution companies been making a noise? Maybe they’ve all been moaning and the media haven’t mentioned the fact.
Is anybody listening out there? Petrol prices should be at about £1.10 a litre and no more.