Baph

Some of us aren't fortunate to be non-reliant on oil based fuels on a day to day basis though.

Try getting my 3 kids out of bed in time to get to school (7 miles away - there isn't a school closer, and moving house isn't a realistic option) for 08:30.

If they are out of bed, try getting them all to walk the 14 miles (per day). Bare in mind my youngest is 3, and only in school half a day. So if we did manage to walk to school, then walk home. It'd be time to pick him up again, so walk there, walk back home with him, and it's time to get the others from school (average walking speed of 4mph assumed - though he's a lot slower than that due to stops for curiosity). Walk back to school to pick the eldest two up, walk home, leaving enough time for tea & bed.

Lets not forget that at least 3 miles of that is a "main" A road with no path at the side of it, and a 50mph speed limit, with cars/bikes/vans/lorries etc mostly exceeding the posted limit. Hardly a safe environment to walk.

Public transport you say? You obviously don't live out in the sticks where busses come approx once every 2 hours (on a weekday). Those that do run through the village, don't run to school. It would actually take 3 bus trips to get from the village to school, and the cost of one adult (minimum) and the 3 kids on 3 seperate bus trips is reasonably comparable to the cost of petrol for the same journey (given that the bus routes aren't as direct as driving yourself).

For some of us, reliance on oil is an unfortunate necessity.

Do I want the government to drop the tax rate? Not really, as they'll only take the tax from somewhere else (as per Nothy's post).

Do I want the cost of petrol reduced? Hell yes. I'd like the cost of my mortgage reduced too, but I don't hold any hope of protests doing that. With fuel prices, there's at least some hope that protests will do something.