Friday, January 21, 2011

BBC: At nearly $7.30/gal and climbing, UK gas prices hit record high



dvtogetty40304110 450x264 BBC: At nearly $7.30/gal and climbing, UK gas prices hit record high
Think fuel prices are high in the United States? What Yanks pay is nothing to what our former colonial masters are forced to shell out at the pumps, as reports come in of record-high prices in the UK.
According to the BBC, prices have hit an all-time high of 121.76p per liter in the United Kingdom. The numbers work out to $7.27 per gallon in American terminology, but the record doesn’t take inflation into account. To put the current British petrol prices into perspective, consider that it will now cost English soccer moms in Chelsea over $163 (!) to fill up their BMW X5s.
The worst news for British motorists is that this isn’t even the end of it: with both the Value Added Tax (VAT) and fuel duties scheduled to rise again in the new year, next month is anticipated to go even higher. As Edmund King, head of the UK’s Automobile Association put it, “for those people dependent on road transport, it’s not looking like a very happy Christmas or indeed New Year.” Indeed.