Britons are once again forced to pay more for fuel with petrol prices having increased by more than three pence per liter at the time of this report, while diesel has risen by four pence.
That means the cost of filling up a typical family car in the UK has now increased although prices had supposedly bottomed out from the record highs in 2022, which, in large part, had been caused by the UK and other NATO countries’ sanctions on Russian energy imports at the start of the Ukraine war.
The cost of fuel at the petrol pump in England is impacted by the price of oil on international markets and by the value of the pound against the dollar, since oil is traded in dollars.
The new pump price increases have been brought about by a recent jump in the price of oil.
And one reason for that can be sought in the foreign policy decisions by the UK and its allies in the energy rich Middle East; decisions such as supporting Israel’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, which has led Yemen’s armed forces to launch attacks on Israel-bound ships, including UK vessels.
There is a rise, obviously to do with the fact that the tankers are not able to go through the Suez Canal because the insurance rates have gone through the roof if you try to do that.
So they’re diverting the tankers around the Horn of Africa and that means that the shipping costs are getting higher because there’s less [sic] ships available than normal.
And also, you know, transportation costs, labour, and hiring tankers for longer.
Professor Keith Pilbeam, City University London
The British Chambers of Commerce says more than half of the UK retailers and exporters have been affected by the disruption to the Red Sea trade with a 300% increase in the price of shipping a single container from Asia to Europe.
All this as the UK-US bombing of Yemen continues, essentially adding fuel to the fire.
Yemen is implementing international law by trying to prevent genocide and it’s absolutely absurd for the UK Government to go along with the US Empire and actually bombing these Yemeni positions.
And, actually as a result of that, causing a situation where the cost of living is increasing in Britain because of the ridiculous foreign policy that our politicians are embracing.
Chris Williamson, Former British MP
So what we have here is the British government tying the welfare of its own citizens to that of a rogue regime intent on committing genocide.
