Fuel's 'rip off' is Government tax

I have just watched on the TV news an article stating that an inquiry was to be undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading to discover if the British motorist is being ripped off on the price of petrol and diesel.

Is this some kind of joke? We already know the answer is most definitely "yes".

The galling thing is that the Government is trying to pass the buck to the oil companies.

The fuel in this country is no more expensive than in the rest of the world. It's the utterly obscene tax that is added to each gallon we put in our tanks – approximately £6.50 tax in every £10 we buy.

Alas, this is Britain and we don't complain, we do stiff upper lip and all that, so they will just carry on ripping us off.

If this was France, the roads would be blocked with protests and something would be done. If I read correctly, the price of fuel in France has just been reduced by five pence per litre on the instruction of the Government there.

Don't just accept it, get in touch with your MP tell him "No cut in tax, no vote".

Jim Bradshaw, Ratby.

On August 31 and September 2, two high-quality football matches were played at the Greene King Stadium, Hinckley.

Under-17 international games between Italy and Portugal and then Italy and Turkey produced flowing and entertaining football, with a total of five goals and a glimpse of what the national sides of these countries will be capable of at senior level in few years' time.

But where were the spectators? It was almost a case of there being more people on the pitch than on the terraces!

There must have been a lamentable lack of publicity beforehand – or the poor turn-out reflects badly on our interest in anything beyond the parochial.

Admittedly, one game was played on a Friday afternoon, which may explain the very small numbers, then but the other was on a Sunday afternoon which (like it or not) has come to be regarded as a regular occasion for sports events in this country and is standard practice on the continent.

I heard about these fixtures from announcements two weeks earlier when I was at the stadium for a Hinckley United game.

I did not see or hear any post-match reports, telling people what a treat they had missed.

However, congratulations to Hinckley United for staging these games. For a total admission outlay of £6, in 180 minutes I saw more skill, endeavour and enthusiasm on a football pitch than I have when spending multiples of that at far more exalted venues.

Howard Newton, Desford.

I read with interest the letters of Michael Myers (Mailbox, August 24) and Don Tallis (Mailbox, August 29).

I would not criticise their opinion of Russian politics or leadership, but if I were a "concerned social worker" I would not care to be likened to Hitler.

The "concerned social worker" made short work of several million Jewish people and he had in mind to treat many more Slavic people to the same.

If Stalin's murderous five-year plans had not armed Soviet Russian soldiers so well, the "concerned social worker" would no doubt have had his way.

As Don Tallis stated, Winston Churchill was a long-term critic of communism and well expressed himself to that end.

However, in the euphoria of victory, Churchill did bend temporarily and stated: "It is very fortunate for Russia, in her agony, to have had this great rugged war leader at her lead."

Many Russians, to this day, have put Stalin's considerable minuses and pluses together and for them he comes out ahead.

The population of the city of Volgograd is agitating for it to be renamed Stalingrad, as previously.

JC Richardson, Western Park, Leicester.

In an article in your paper (Saturday, September 1) regarding a mix-up with a school bus, a mother commented: "For a 14-year-old not used to doing this, it's quite a big thing".

I wonder what she would say about my situation?

Living in Hugglescote, I left school at 14 and got a job in Leicester, catching a train from Coalville at 7am and getting from Leicester station to Freeschool Lane, now part of Highcross.

I did the reverse in the evening, getting home at about 7pm.

Two nights a week I stayed in town to attend night school and on those occasions I arrived home about 10pm. I also worked a half-day on Saturdays.

How things have changed!

Desmond Starbuck, Coalville.

Shuffle or reshuffle – it makes no difference. We have still been dealt the same hand of jokers at the top.

Eric Goodyer, Colsterworth.