Alice sounds as though she's been throughly brainwashed by the global-warming-is-your-fault brigade.

Phill , The Wirral, England

Since ministers and MPs are asking where the money for a fuel tax rebate is going to come from - let them look at the quangos, which Labour promised to abolish but which have proliferated to an enormous extend - costing the taxpayer £64 billion a year.

Vivian Evans, Cardiff,

Petrol prices should go up ONLY when the cost of living in areas such as Rents/Mortgages (outlaw BTL) and Council Tax (let's see a 50% reduction and more subsidies from Cent Gov) go down. The tax for bigger vehicles is a con. If the Govn' are serious, ban these vehs from the road altogether

Nick, Bristol,

The headline to this article says "No 10 must not give in to the protestors..." .... & why the devil must they not ? ... the voice of the people is ignored by foolish governments ... once into Westminster they seemingly have no need of our opinions but act & vote to the party line .... BAH

r rogers, bedford, UK

The immediate way to solve the foreign truckers problem:

1. Any truck with a full tank must pay a contribution, equal to the amount of filling their truck in the UK with diesel.

2. Tolls on roads leading out of UK ports-all UK tax disc payers are exempt from paying

Bertie Bassett, Brighton, UK

Oil is a limited resource. We have to wean ourselves off it sooner or later. This is not a "green" perspective, just reality. Trying to micromanage the market with 2p here or there is like Canute telling the waves to retreat. Some stuff goes up in price - get used to it.

Nick, France,

The first thing they should do is take away fuel duty and other taxes in general, as they are currently taxing fuel at a horrendous rate with fuel duty and then double tax with VAT at 17.5%.
If Government could run itself efficiently it could reduce staff and charge less tax on fuel and in general.

Dave Andrews, Glasgow, UK

Why's GB talking to OPEC about the cost of oil?
They're never going to cut their profit margin.Should be talking to himself instead,maybe he is since his cabinet seems to be split.HMG are never going to radically change the road tax system ie.no road tax at all,since they're use to a level of income

john , shrewsbury, uk

We have always had high fuel prices relative to the EU and the USA thanks to fuel duty at 70%. When oil prices rise and fuel becomes highly priced around the world it becomes extortionately priced here. Bring UK & EU Fuel Duty into line now. Why does the UK Govt need more fuel tax than others?

K Shad, Towcester, Northants

If all of the money from green taxes went into Innovation to provide a solution then I would be less upset by them. They aren't. They are needed to fund second homes (fully furnished) to MP's and their gold standard pensions as well as the army of middle managers in public services.

Martin, Darwen, Lancashire

I understand that something needs to be done to the amount of cars on the road both from a pollution and traffic perspective, but I just can't see any viable alternative. Can they make the trains more attractive? I don't think so. So what next?

Nick, London , UK

Peter in London - it is always those who are living with a great public transport system (paid for by the rest of us) who are in favour of putting up tax on fuel. I cannot afford to live closer to work and public transport in the local area is a joke.

Some of us have no choice but to drive.

JLP, Cambridge, UK

We have become so addicted to the car that we can't think of life without them. I couldn't ask my kids to walk to school or even go by bike because roads have become so large and congested. We don't even have a pedestrian crossing that connects the village to St. Albans, We need more choice, dont we?

Graham, Bricket Wood, St. Albans, uk

Green tax is just tax with a word added. There is no 'green' benefit to extra duty on fuel, as people still need to drive (no alternative), food still needs to be produced and delivered, electricity still needs to be supplied. If the tax reduced demand, and thus the revenue, it would be cancelled.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

It is possible to deliver a different Britain. Why do we still see ourselves as global police. Good strong well equiped home defence forces would be sufficient and at a fraction of our current defence bill. We dont need billion pound aircraft carriers and overseas capability anymore

mike gee, bournemouth, uk

Cut out the ID card project, the NHS computer project, get out of Iraq, then abolish National Insurance ( a tax on the poor). That would improve spending power to the economy, and might even make the government less unpopular.

DR ANDREW JOHN KITCHING, Reading,

I agree with much of what Alice Miles has written. However, I do think, given the impact that high fuel costs has on so many elements on our daily lives, that the government should reduce fuel tax for everybody, particularly if it true the exchequer is gaining extra revenue from high oil prices.

Sean, Plymouth, UK

I agree with Vishal - the petrol tax would be justifiable and effective if it actually was used to subsidise public transport, which is ridiculously expensive, and, even with rising petrol prices, not very competitive compared to motoring (bus companies just pass on petrol costs by raising fares)

Jay Kennedy, Liverpool, UK

I am getting sick of the expression "being held to ransom" used every time some group has a legitimate protest against getting ripped off, be it pensions, or everyone with our taxes. The message is simple, stop the government wasting money on things we don't need like ID card schemes

Tim, Dundee, Scotland

There isn't much this government or a government of PC Dave's nonentities can do about this issue. Has anyone here ever heard of Peak Oil? Type that into Google and find out.

Barry, Brentwood, United Kingdom

Um, just why must the government "not give in" to popular protest? Isn't this supposed to be a democracy?

Roger, Ipswich,

"Road fuel is far too cheap - the government should aim to increase road fuel tax so that the price of fuel doubles over the next five years"

Peter from London, next time you stray beyond the M25, have a game of 'spot the bus or train'. It's really challenging!

Jim, Exeter,

Thank you D Cage, for a blast of common sense regarding the whole anthropogenic climate change pseudo-science. Taking personal responsiblity, recycling, using resources carefully, respecting the environment and having a reasonable size family are no-brainers. We don't need to be taxed into penury!!

JC, Bere Alston, England

personally i think most of the "green" issues are scare mongering at best and dishonest at worse.
politicians knew they were getting to the limit of acceptable taxation, then they jumped on the green bandwagon. Boom instant taxation..
green = tax

billy, edinburgh,

The dishonesty of the government to say that the proposed increase in road excise for older cars is for environmental reasons as it is actually better environmentally to keep existing cars running than manufacture new ones.

A Hearle, Guildford, UK

What happened to Dave Camerons PR Hype on Green Issues.As he backed off when they are no longer popular with the public.Green Dave has also hidden his Green advisor Goldsmith away.Cameron is a political weather vaner thats why he does not like giving detailed policies its then difficult to U Turn.

Bill Rees, Truro, Cornwall

It's all about managing decline - the UK is supporting an unsustainable public sector. If we reduce this burden, we could lower taxes and skew our transport systems towards public transport. As long as we have a bloated public sector we are going to face social unrest as the economy is squeezed.

Steve Marchant, Broadhempston , UK

Its time to move away from taxation of petrol to fund general expenditure of the government.

Instead allocate all taxes from petrol towards:

1) a Green Fund - which will subsidize alternative energy
2) towards maintaining the road network
3) subsidize public transport.

Vishal Patel, London, UK

I didn't vote for the 100's of pieces of reactionary legislation, I didn't vote for the massive amount of research that gets wasted. I voted for education but not monstrous amounts of costly testing and certainly didn't vote for expensive wars. Sick of paying tax for all this!!

Dave, coventry, uk

Don't worry guys the Green Brigade will soon have all Brits living in tree tops with no jobs, no money and no food. Gordon is only there to help them, the rest of the world will live happily ever after.

Peter Fordham, Pego, Spain

I would say that Gordon Brown is finshed, but the truth is that he never really got started. We need leadership more than anything now and he cannot provide it. He must go.

Carl, London,

"Gas-guzzling" cars don't emit carbon dioxide.

Burning petrol emits carbon dioxide, and it's the same amount of CO2 per litre whatever you burn it in: 4x4s, minis, or lawn-mowers.

Abolish car tax and put it all onto petrol duty, and people will be able to take rational decisions about their lives.

Jane Dinham, Oxford,

You only hear of taxes when you hear of 'green' policies. When do we get some positive input in the way of spending more on subsidising car sharing, park and ride schemes etc.?? Not from central government - it's mostly left to the vagaries of local government councils who are notoriously inept.

David Nammory, Liverpool,

I have no problem paying higher fuel tax if the money was going to be used to make public transport better. Instead there is zero accountability and there is no effort by this government to use the money collected to the betterment of public transport.

Tim, London,

I had my second hand SAAB 9-5 Estate converted to LPG, earlier this year. My last fill up cost 56p a litre and the kit costs about £1,500 so most would be charged towards £2,000 for the change.

Geoffrey Keith Nathan, Grays Essex , UK

We will be running out of oil pretty soon, at the present rate of consumption; the debate shd. move on to what we do then.
Will there be a viable alternative? eg. can we imagine a sky without planes?

ian cheese, london, uk

What is wrong isn't the tax, it's the taxer, the Chancellor who demonstrated his lack of backbone with Northern Rock - where he's about to do it again - who buckles under every pressure. It was and is logical to RAISE fuel tax, as he knows perfectly well, but Darling hasn't the stature to do it.

Noel Falconer MEcon, Couiza, France

A 40%+ increase in oil costs will be included in the rise in all prices in all shops - since the price increase must be passed on to the consumer. This means increases in prices in the pipeline for EVERYTHING you purchase not just Fuel for transport, but all your purchases and the utilities too.

Rob, Nottingham,

If (and I mean IF) CO2 is responsible for global warming, more of it is produced in manufacturing a new car than any car will ever emit in its lifetime. Ergo - the greenest car you can own is the car you already own. So claims that higher taxes on older car are green taxes is spurious.

S Foster, Doncaster, UK

Road fuel is far too cheap - the government should aim to increase road fuel tax so that the price of fuel doubles over the next five years

Peter, London,

A fairer way would be to reduce both road and fuel tax but have congestion charging in cities, the profit going to improve public transport. Many would benefit from the latter, and hauliers (most of whose mileage is outside cities) and rural motorists alike would benefit from the fuel tax cuts.

Barry, Wallington, UK

People are sick of the subterfuge and chicanery that this government has displayed in the past ten years. We pay road taxes, vehicle taxes, parking fees, resident parking fees, speeding fines, bus lane transgression fines, before we add fuel duties. Where does this money go? Er... try MP's expenses.

Sanjay, London,

The "dramatic shifts in lifestyle" required are unpalatable to the 'I want' British public and undeliverable by any government that wishes to stay in office.

Kevin, Leeds,

Reduce taxes? surely that would only be a short term palliative. A few weeks or days even and we'd be back to square one again.

Rob, London, UK

I am surprised GB & AD havent put a tax on the rain that falls on peoples' heads. We do get a lot of it!! Just imagine a 1p tax on each drop that falls. BONANZA!!! The whole UK debt could be paid off in a day's rain of which there are many in these MIsty Isles.....

Louis Blanc, Liverpool, UK

Alice
It's all very well to say that the government has no control over oil prices, but what it does have is control over the price at the pumps by way of fuel duty.
Since 'they' have stopped us all smoking and hence lost a hearty whack of tax they have to get it back from somewhere I suppose.
BG

Bill Glanvill, Horsham, England

Hauliers cannot pass on costs. A truck can fill up in France, drive into the UK, pick up a load, drive it to Scotland, drive back to France and then fill up again.
What are these green taxes spent on?
Anything green?

Dominic, Manchester, England

It is road tax which should be scrapped and it should have been scrapped years ago but gutless politicians always avoided it . A high mileage, low emission car can do more damage than a low mileage high emission car. Where is the logic? Reduce mileage through petrol tax!

a.Mathman, Barnsley, England

"Nor does it help to change behaviour, as the same car becomes impossible to sell". And if people do sell their car - at a discount - then what ? It will simply be driven by somebody else. There is no envronmental gain from this tax, it is merely a way to screw more money out of the motorist.

Richard Briscoe, Amersham, England

On rereading your article your pretty sound. But I hope my contribution has Greensnobs seething. Environmentalism equals reaction. The coming right wing realignment is inevitable. Crikey! Its the Greens.

Eric Skelton, Cardiff, Wales

Alice you forgot renaming the european constitution to deny a vote, Brown and Blair agreeing a little deal to be PM, like it was their god given right to do so. You cannot consistently abuse power and insult the electorate and expect to survive. Arrogance beyond belief.

mark, surbiton,

Labour is an ex-Government - the shame of it is that we have to wait another two years before giving it its last rites. So the stinking corpse remains in the living room exuding its foul vapours!

Richard, Kidderminster, England

Another two years of Gordon and his juvenile ministers will just reinforce in the electorate's mind a combination of stealth taxes hitting the middle classes and poor, dithering, cowardice and incompetence. If Labour really are too cowardly to get rid of him, he should resign for 'family' reasons

Donna Walker, Effingham, England

D. Cage, then there are 'Eco Towns', the key to the fraud. But I think the debate has moved on. It is no longer the 2p but the vast tax bonanza that the treasury has scooped on the fuel price rise. It is not the fuel escalator anymore it is the Pacific Dodecanal Oscillator, an ice age, near you?

Malcolm Turner, Alsager, England

Why not "give in" to the fuel protestors if they're right? Is it sustainable to employ over half of northerners on the state payroll, in many areas, squandering both the nation's tax purse and North Sea oil revenues? Cut taxes now and get out of the way to ensure future economic prosperity.

Marco, London, UK

The electorate too, is fickle. 10p income, 2p "green" fuel, tax changes may have passed relatively quietly, if house prices were booming and credit not squeezed. HMG must now cut its cloth: such taxes are no longer acceptable. A year (or two) is a very long time in politics. You are right, Alice.

Mike L, Chippenham, Wilts

all taxes are too high under nulab. all taxes should be reduced

terry sullivan, morden, england

Alice misses the point with the fuel duty. Truckers and long distance buses fill up on the Continent in their 3000 km a tank vehicles because the fuel is much cheaper there. In 2014, the excise duty is to be levelled though. Big problems as the UK has high tax income from fuel.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

We need re-examine the CO2 issue. The fraud that it was verified science needs to be exposed. There is simply not the data available to verify computer models proving the link between CO2 and mythical global warming. have. Green taxes prevent essential energy saving.investments at a personal level.

D Cage, Highworth, UK