THE British public have long tolerated an ever-increasing tax on motor fuel so it hardly came as any surprise when disgruntled farmers, road hauliers and their families decided to make their protest by blockading refineries throughout the UK.

It's never right to get your own way by force but these people know that rising fuel costs have a direct effect on the cost of transport, and on the cost of food in the shops, which is why they received so much sympathy and tolerance from the general public.

The government tax on motor fuel now represents approximately 75 per cent of the price at the pumps - in other words 60 pence on a litre costing 89.9p, that's a tax of over £2.60 per gallon. And we are paying almost the highest tax on fuel in the World.

Those that claim our high tax is an incentive to reduce levels of pollution are out of touch with reality.

Fuel consumption continues to increase, despite the high tax, especially in the rural part s of Herefordshire and Worcestershire where public transport is inadequate or non-existent. Our Prime Minister's concern about pollution might best be judged by his recent response to the retail price of fuel when he simple encouraged the OPEC countries to increase production!

The Norwegians also have been distressed by the cost of fuel so their government is about to cut fuel tax. But then they can, because Norway is not part of the EU.

At a meeting in Versailles on September 9, EU finance ministers (including our own chancellor, Gordon Brown) bound themselves to keep all fuel taxes as high as they are: They need the income from high petrol taxes to pay for the ever-increasing costs of the EU.

France had by then granted tax concessions in order to end the days of blockades but, when asked for comment on that, Pedro Solves, the EU Commissioner for Economic Affairs, merely declared "It's no use crying over split milk"! So once again France gets away with it while we have to suffer. Our petrol taxes are way above those of other EU countries yet our own, supposedly British, government continues to allow continental truck drivers (and the producers of the goods the carry) to gain a huge competitive advantage over our own.

We can only reduce petrol tax to a sensible level if Britain leaves the EU and becomes independent again.

For example, if we left the EU tomorrow and used all of the savings to reduce petrol tax, we could reduce the price at the pumps to just 20p a litre. So who do you thin is responsible for the fuel crisis?

IAN MORRIS, chairman, West Worcestershire Association UK Independence Party, Newtown Road, Malvern.