Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Petrol Price

Oh isn't George Osborn generous in not putting up the tax on petrol. Now, when you buy a litre of fuel at the pump for £1.40 you're only paying at tax rate of 142% - that's 83p in tax. But of course you need to pay such huge rates to finance all those enormous and completely unfair public sector pensions. But we must also not forget the billions the DFID is throwing at other countries, what we are paying for more fucking useless windmills and for another climate change jolly somewhere, or the billions thrown at the corrupt and totalitarian EU, or that biased advocate of leftwingery the BBC, or the lazy fucks on welfare, or the overpaid jerks in our councils, or the... ok, I'll stop there.

Back to work so I can pay for all those dicks out there.

10 comments:

Tony B said...

Ah. I see you've bought into the Daily Mail myth of enormous public sector pensions. Well never mind.

bascule said...

Every now and then I remind myself how much I'd be buying a gallon for. Our local garage has £1.32/L which has just broken the £6/Gallon barrier. Wish I hadn't done it now.

Neal Asher said...

The simple fact is that the public sector can afford pensions schemes the private sector cannot(and lower retirement ages only until recently), and the public sector is paid for by the private sector. But don't sweat it, whitespacebug, most of what the public sector spends is unaffordable, here, across Europe and in the USA, and it's all in the process of coming crashing down right now. Worrying about the size of a pension when in the near future we'll probably require a wheelbarrow for the devalued money to buy a loaf of bread is a little pointless.

From the ONS (2010):

The ONS figures showed that state workers earn an average of £615 a week, compared to £479 in the private sector. Even without pension contributions, the ONS said, public sector workers get almost £4,000 extra per annum.

Bascule, maybe we'll all be converting our cars to run on gas when the shale gas boom arrives (ho ho). But of course the government will probably whack some massive taxes on that to fund all that wonderful green energy out there.

Tony B said...

If that is the case I hope I get back the many thousands I have paid out of my salary on the understanding that I would get a pension out of it. Anything else would be stealing. I personally don't believe that public sector workers are paid more. If they are it is a very recent trend and when the boot was on the other foot the Tories spoke only of the "politics of envy", a phrase that has strangely now disappeared.

Yours faithfully
Dick McJerk
A former reader.

AngryMurloc said...

Wonder how they'll tax the bacteria that burps out petrol when/if that tech gets off the ground?

Also on the grounds of pensions, you'd be pretty blind to say that public sector pensions are not better than private sector ones, in terms of return and the age you can retire at. I do find it amusing that now these super pensions can no longer be propped up, and that public sector workers have to deal with it like the rest of us, they are kicking up a stink. I do however feel for them if, in the course of this change, they end up losing money they have already put into the pot.

Neal Asher said...

Whitespacebug, your response is all about 'I'm not getting what I was promised'. As for your belief that you don't get paid any more, well, I suggest you take that up with the Office of National Statistics.

Do they lose money they've already put in, Angry? Isn't it more of a case of them getting closer to the correct return on what they do put in, since they're presently subsidised to the tune of 23 billion?

Tony B said...

I do not think it is unreasonable to expect to receive the pension I have been paying into for 25 years, no.

Unknown said...

Part of the anger come from the media talking up the non-jobs that exist in the public sector. Yes they do exist. But they are mostly created as a result of policies from Westminster. Something parliament sidesteps whenever it wants to blame local authorities.

Also it's important that for every diversity manager there are 100 social workers or access workers. Many of whom do a truly harrowing job with little thanks for good work and crucifixion for any mistakes.

It's really not a black and white thing.

Another important reason for this anger is the government raid on private pensions. Public sector pensions only look good now after Gorgon ravished private pensions. I don't see the Tories lining up to put back what was once a much envied pension system.

Tony B said...

Olaf, yes it is a complex issue. You're right - certain public sector jobs that are ridiculed, perhaps rightly, are there because of government policies (usually targetting certain groups in an attempt to win votes). If the government asks for more work to be done on diversity, then it's common sense that people have to be employed to do that work.

If 90-odd percent of public sector workers and only 12% of private sector workers have pensions, the problem is in the private sector, not the public sector. Pensions are a good thing. Why is everyone in such a rush to impoverish themselves and everybody else?

Neal Asher said...

It is funny. As I replied to someone else who commented about this post (obviously it's a sore point at the moment):

Read it again. Are you 'overpaid' and do you have 'an enormous and unfair pension?' If either, then be upset, if not, then don't.