Do the OFT and I buy petrol in the same country?

The Office of Fair Trading has investigated petrol prices and says all is well:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21258809

What was it the OFT was meant to be looking at? You know what they say: The answer you get depends on the question you ask.

The report assures us that the UK has some of the lowest fuel prices in the EU 'before taxes'. Very good. It's just a shame 60% of the price we pay is made up by tax, so we end up with some of the highest fuel prices in the EU. Did the OFT compare prices after tax? Did it consider making recommendations to the government about slowing down the hike in fuel taxes while consumers are struggling in the recession?

The OFT concedes that motorway prices for fuel are high, but the solution it offers is a joke: we'll tell the suppliers to put up signs telling customers what the fuel prices are before they leave the motorways. Like they have a choice halfway up the M6 of where to 'shop' for petrol.

The report also assures us: "competition is working well, and rises in pump prices over last decade or so have largely been down to increases in tax and the cost of crude oil." That doesn't deal with the rip-off we're complaining about: no sooner has a rise in crude oil prices been announced than the pump prices go up, when we know the suppliers are still using old stock bought at the old price.

In addition, twenty years ago we had a whole range of indie petrol stations - that is, more choice - but now the fuel market is very much under the control of the supermarkets and oil producers like BP. Did the OFT look at their near monopoly of fuel supplies?

It's hard to believe the double, triple and quadruple whammy working people are facing in the UK: stagnant (that is declining) wages, rising prices in the supermarkets, declining tax credits - and now petrol prices are creeping up again.

If you live outside the central belt of Scotland, and that's where half our population lives, you are really suffering, with increased freight charges affecting prices in the shops and punitive prices at the pumps.

If you're bringing up children - dear little things - living from one wage to the next, as most people do, just remember: you're also meant to be saving for your old age!