5p cut in tax on fuel.

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

Unfortunately, the state pension and welfare benefit annual uplifts are linked to the Consumer Prices Index rate from the previous September.

That's not to say the Chancellor couldn't have done something for state pensioners and welfare benefit claimants. He chose not to help out some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society. And os rightly receiving opprobrium for that decision.

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/rishi-sunak-statement-benefits-tax-inflation-b2042410.html

[bradshaw]

The ill fated triple lock was abandoned this year as the wages index would have given us an 8% rise. Ironically just where we are with inflation now with the energy increase yet to factor in.

[Witham Bobby]

That it seems to be a surprise to some people that government money printing leads to inflation, or that money hosed around ad-lib to sustain lockdowns, furlough, rip-off protective clothing purchases and vaccination programmes comes with the need to pay for it, surprises me.  Maybe few foresaw Vlad doing what he's done in Ukraine, but surely all the consequences of the government's reaction to Rona were entirely predictable.  Not just this government, but governments all around the globe have been very free 'n easy with the money supply.  Seeds were sown in the wind, and now comes the whirlwind.

In my own enterprise, paper packaging materials, we are hugely impacted by the absence on world markets of Russian pulp.  But we were already experiencing big supply difficulties because of the explosion in home shopping and the demand for cardboard boxes that's gone with it.

Inflation and erosion of living standards are here to stay, for a bit.

[ellendune]

That it seems to be a surprise to some people that government money printing leads to inflation, or that money hosed around ad-lib to sustain lockdowns, furlough, rip-off protective clothing purchases and vaccination programmes comes with the need to pay for it, surprises me. 

Um, I realise printing money causing inflation is a classic economic theory, but the actual real economy is more complex than classical economic theory.

One of the more basic tenants of economic theory is that when demand for a product exceeds supply prices will rise. 

• In this case, the inflation seems to have been mainly caused by a jump in world oil and gas prices (these have almost immediate knock-ons in other areas such as fertiliser and transport as well as high energy industries. This increase started because production, which reduced during lockdowns has not being restored as fast as the recovery in demand (possibly deliberately by some producers looking to increase the prices) and more recently by the war in Ukraine, as Russia is one of the world's largest oil and gas producers.
• A rise in fertiliser prices is also due to the war, as Russia was one of the worlds major exporter of agricultural fertilisers. 
• There are also residual shortages of some other manufactured products due to lockdowns in various countries
• There are also market pressures to increase wages caused by a shortage of labour due to loss of a huge number of foreign workers over the last couple of years.

[TonyK]

I heard the Chancellor announce the cut in fuel duty on the car radio, as I drove away from the filling station in Taunton. I cursed my luck at not having waited for a few more hours, when I could have saved about £1.65, although driving through Tiverton later, there seemed little fuel to had at any price.

When I got home, I found that the postman had been, and delivered my bus pass. Win some, lose some.

[paul7575]

…When I got home, I found that the postman had been, and delivered my bus pass. Win some, lose some.

I’ve had a bus pass 9 months, haven’t used it yet.  Not sure if I could walk as far as the nearest bus route… 

[plymothian]

I heard the Chancellor announce the cut in fuel duty on the car radio, as I drove away from the filling station in Taunton. I cursed my luck at not having waited for a few more hours, when I could have saved about £1.65, although driving through Tiverton later, there seemed little fuel to had at any price.

When I got home, I found that the postman had been, and delivered my bus pass. Win some, lose some.

I wish I filled up before the announcement - fuel prices at every station I drove past jumped UP 6-7p.

[Witham Bobby]

Um, I realise printing money causing inflation is a classic economic theory, but the actual real economy is more complex than classical economic theory.

One of the more basic tenants of economic theory is that when demand for a product exceeds supply prices will rise. 

• In this case, the inflation seems to have been mainly caused by a jump in world oil and gas prices (these have almost immediate knock-ons in other areas such as fertiliser and transport as well as high energy industries. This increase started because production, which reduced during lockdowns has not being restored as fast as the recovery in demand (possibly deliberately by some producers looking to increase the prices) and more recently by the war in Ukraine, as Russia is one of the world's largest oil and gas producers.
• A rise in fertiliser prices is also due to the war, as Russia was one of the worlds major exporter of agricultural fertilisers. 
• There are also residual shortages of some other manufactured products due to lockdowns in various countries
• There are also market pressures to increase wages caused by a shortage of labour due to loss of a huge number of foreign workers over the last couple of years.

I don't disagree about supply and demand.  In my own business, where we shift around 70 - 100 tonnes per week of paper-based packaging, we've noticed the effects of the energy price rises and shortage of raw material (with Russian pulp now excluded from the market in The West) very acutely.

I just felt it needed pointing out that there are always consequences when governments resort to conjuring fiat money out of thin air.  Those who thought the answer to Rona was to tell a sizeable chunk of the working population not to turn up at work for a few months and "the government" would pick up the tab and who imagined that the cost would somehow not fall on individuals and enterprises were forgetting that "the government" has no money, save what it removes from people presently alive and our children.

[TonyK]

I’ve had a bus pass 9 months, haven’t used it yet.  Not sure if I could walk as far as the nearest bus route… 

There's a handy free car park near my closest bus stop. I call it "hybrid" travel.

[RichT54]

Today's rocket attack on the Saudi Oil facility in Jeddah is not going to help fuel prices.

https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/12574973/f1-continuing-with-saudi-arabian-gp-as-planned-after-jeddah-attack

Edit: added link

[TonyK]

The ill fated triple lock was abandoned this year as the wages index would have given us an 8% rise. Ironically just where we are with inflation now with the energy increase yet to factor in.

The triple lock worked just fine until it was actually needed.

[eXPassenger]

The ill fated triple lock was abandoned this year as the wages index would have given us an 8% rise. Ironically just where we are with inflation now with the energy increase yet to factor in.

The triple lock worked just fine until it was actually needed.

the problem with the triple lock is that it will always lag behind the actual inflation rate.  The 8% increase in wages was ignored this year because it was a recovery from the reduction of average earnings in the first year of covid.

[didcotdean]

By law, the old basic state pension & the new state pension are required to rise in line with incomes as a minimum every year. It wasn't the triple lock that was broken, which is just a policy, it would have been the law if it hadn't been set aside for 12 months by a new Act of Parliament. This shows that anything 'enshrined in law' can be dispensed with if inconvenient at the time as an existing law doesn't bind Parliament.

[4064ReadingAbbey]

This whole debate hasn't really moved on since the oil price shock of 1973 following the Yom Kippur war.

At the time there were calls for houses to be better insulated,; it was predicted that car use would fall as costs rose and so on and so forth. In the event people adapted to the new prices and cars became more efficient (anyone remember the motor manufacturers emphasising the new low Cd values of their latest models...?) Building regulations have made the modern UK^▸ (United Kingdom) house much more energy efficient that the 1960s and 70s equivalents - why else does so much modern construction have such undersized fenestration?

For the last 100 years the new growth of towns and cities has been based on the use of the motor car and the organisation and spatial arrangements are largely no longer suitable for people to do most of their business within walking distance. Towns are now zoned for industrial or commercial or leisure or residential uses separating these various activities.

Without a fundamental re-organisation of built-up areas calls for people to walk or cycle more, or use the buses or trains (which for most towns up to about 100k inhabitants have little or no relevance for intra-town journeys anyway) will be ignored as these alternatives are simply not relevant for most people's transport needs.

A case in point. Until a way is found for the local corner store 10 minutes walk away can supply goods as cheaply as a supermarket 10 minutes drive away, the supermarket will continue to be preferred.

[broadgage]

This whole debate hasn't really moved on since the oil price shock of 1973 following the Yom Kippur war.

At the time there were calls for houses to be better insulated,; it was predicted that car use would fall as costs rose and so on and so forth. In the event people adapted to the new prices and cars became more efficient (anyone remember the motor manufacturers emphasising the new low Cd values of their latest models...?) Building regulations have made the modern UK^▸ (United Kingdom) house much more energy efficient that the 1960s and 70s equivalents - why else does so much modern construction have such undersized fenestration?

For the last 100 years the new growth of towns and cities has been based on the use of the motor car and the organisation and spatial arrangements are largely no longer suitable for people to do most of their business within walking distance. Towns are now zoned for industrial or commercial or leisure or residential uses separating these various activities.

Without a fundamental re-organisation of built-up areas calls for people to walk or cycle more, or use the buses or trains (which for most towns up to about 100k inhabitants have little or no relevance for intra-town journeys anyway) will be ignored as these alternatives are simply not relevant for most people's transport needs.

A case in point. Until a way is found for the local corner store 10 minutes walk away can supply goods as cheaply as a supermarket 10 minutes drive away, the supermarket will continue to be preferred.

Cars are indeed more efficient than in 1970s, but more vehicles, driven for greater distances have resulted in increased petrol/diesel consumption. And of course road fuel is cheaper relative to wages, whereas fares have increased greatly.

Newly built homes are better insulated than was the norm in the 1970s but I suspect that heating the whole house to 24 degrees with cheap gas central heating has negated any savings. I can remember when most people only heated the room in use.
I also remember when people wore warm clothes in the winter, and used thick wool blankets on beds, with brushed cotton sheets. Some people even wore pajamas. Or long underwear.

And as for shopping, on line ordering and home delivery is probably the future for many people. Fuel is still used by the delivery vehicle, but probably less than used by each customer driving to the supermarket.
Electrically powered supermarket delivery vehicles will soon become the norm.