‘We don’t visit granny any more’: the social costs of soaring petrol prices

theguardian.com:

The soaring cost of driving in the UK is forcing people to scrimp on food and heating, as turmoil in energy markets puts petrol prices on course to hit a new milestone of 160p a litre.

Simon Williams, the RAC’s fuel spokesperson, said the speed at which fuel prices are rising means petrol is on a “rapid journey towards 160p a litre and diesel to 165p”. “Given the speed of increases, drivers could unfortunately see this by the end of the week. As these are averages far higher prices will be appearing on forecourt totems up and down the country.”

The petrol price is linked to global oil prices which have jumped on the back of the war in Ukraine. The price of Brent crude is now over $130 a barrel, having hit $100 a barrel for the first time since 2014 when Russia began its assault.

We spoke to readers about how the higher price of petrol and diesel is affecting their lives.

Bowater drives roughly 1,000 miles a month to and from work and says the high cost of fuel is forcing him to make big changes, including cutting meat from his diet and keeping the heating turned off.

“I used to put £24 or £25 [of diesel] in a week and it’s gone up to about £36,” the 52-year-old says. He looked into getting a train instead but the journey cost even more, at “£20-odd pounds a day”, and took a lot longer at an hour and 40 minutes, compared with a half-hour drive.

“Normally I’ll buy things like beef or chicken or pork – I’ve had to cut it all out, I’m not having meat at all,” he says. “It’s not healthy food that I’m swapping it for, it’s all carbohydrates, which is no good.”

“I live on my own – I can go without putting the heating on but can’t go without diesel. If I have visitors over, I’ll put it on for them if it’s cold out. I’ve never ever had