Make fuel tax cuts top priority to ease inflation

A twice-yearly study by money website Fool.co.uk finds that our cost of living, as measured by the Fool Inflation Index, is rising at an annual rate of 9.3%. This is three times higher than official Government figures.

But the Government can easily reduce our main inflation stresses by slashing fuel tax as a top priority - almost half the nation (46%) is worried by rising petrol prices.

Meals, Wheels and Fossil Fuels

More people now reckon their personal inflation is soaring. Only one in 25 people (4%) concur with the Government's inflation rate. This compares with almost twice as many (7%) six months ago.

But while rising prices are seeping into almost every cranny of household spending, some nooks give consumers more sleepless nights than others. One in four (26%) toss and turn over rising gas and electricity bills, and another one in four (24%) is most concerned by mounting food bills.

Fill the freezer or the fill the car?

The study also reveals that one in eight people (12%) say their personal inflation is over 15%, compared with one in 20 (5%) in January this year.

However, one in two men (49%) say the high cost of petrol is distressing, while only one in five (23%) bat an eyelid over food prices.

Women fret over the cost of filling the freezer and putting food on the table (32%) almost as much as they worry about filling up the car (39%). Roughly the same proportion of men and women (23%) put utility bills at the top of their worry-lists.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: "The Government can easily put these worries to bed. All it has to do is slash tax on fuel, which is giving half of British consumers' sleepless nights.

"But instead Chancellor Darling chooses to fill his coffers at our expense. Currently, 60% of the advertised price for unleaded petrol is taken in taxes. The Chancellor gobbles up 70p out of 120p every time we fill up our cars. In January, he took 64p per litre in taxes, which was already staggering.

"Nobody likes to be taken for a ride. But blaming the high price of oil for our travel woes when the Government is the source of three-fifths of the misery is one ride that must stop.

"The Government loves to make a meal out of windfall profits. That is unless it happens in its own backyard. But this is one meal that consumers find unpalatable, especially when they are feeling the pain and the Government is making all the gain."