Why do us Brits put up with high petrol prices?

I've been toying with the idea of blogging for a while... I've always got something I want to rant about but never quite got around to it, until now.

So, why this particular subject? Well, I've just had a 2 week vacation and spent it driving to various locations around Western Europe... after a short hop through the Channel Tunnel I took my car to the nearest filling station and topped it up. In the space of 2 weeks I managed to clock up about 5000km and so clearly filled up the car a number of times and the average price of Diesel (which I switched to about a year back on cost grounds) seemed to remain constant in each of the countries I visited... the cheapest being about €1.08/l in France with the highest being about €1.22/l. Converting that back to the UK£ means I was paying between £0.73/l and £0.82/l, much better than the £0.95/l I'd been paying in the UK prior to my departure. So, imaging my shock when I started passing filling stations on my return showing the price teetering at £1/l.

So, what's the excuse for all of this? We're being told that the "war" in the Middle East is to blame, but if this is the case then why didn't I see price increases over the same period in France, Germany and Italy? High fuel taxes in the UK are the most likely blame. Because we live on an island our government can happily force us to pay more on the grounds that it will encourage us to "reduce traffic" and "help the environment"... we can't just driver over the border and fill up in a lower-taxed country (unless of course you're in Northern Ireland). The general public also doesn't get so much opertunity to compare prices... it's not as if we can buy on-line the same way as we can with DVD's and electrical goods. I do sometimes wonder if the choice to stay out of the Euro also doesn't help - but that's a subject for a different rant!

As a country, we put up with this. Why? We don't seem to have any alternatives. A few years back there was a massive protest - as a result of blockades fuel stations ran out of supplies and the government eventually had to sit up and listen. For a a very short while there was some action on the price... but only until the government could draw up new laws meaning that in the future it would be illegal and/or difficult for the public to take such action again and now the price continues to rise.

So who is actually benefitting from all of this? I doubt that the environment benefits because we all still need to use our cars because public transport in the UK is so poor. Traffic levels don't benefit either for the same reason. The government benefits because as the price of oil increases, so does their tax revenue from sales. High street prices are pushed up because of transport costs and the government benefits more through increases in VAT takings. Higher costs mean that people want to earn more... with the effect that more income tax and national insurance is paid out, again benefiting the government. So, what do we get out of this?

Well, what we do get is the worst transport system in Europe, one of the highest costs of living and probably the longest working hours too. So, why do we put up with it?

Well, look at history. The last time we as a nation rebelled against our rulers was in the 1600's when the royal family at the time was forcably removed... but within a few years they were re-instated! There is clearly no hope for Britain!