Why I, as a Lamborghini lover, say: put petrol prices up

Don’t listen to the RAC’s call for a 5p a litre cut at the pumps, urges petrolhead Sean O’Grady – cheap petrol is only fuelling the problem

What is so special about petrol? (Getty Images)

As someone who is proudly pro-car (see reviews and articles passim), I find the constant calls by the motoring lobby for cuts to the price of petrol bewildering.

Even those of us who’ve driven and loved Lamborghinis, Maseratis (and Skodas) don’t believe we have a divine right to cheap fuel, nor fancy that we can live a lifestyle as we have in the past. Our planet and our public services are far more important than that. There is no case for cutting or freezing fuel duty – yet again – in the upcoming autumn statement, and I have to say I’m also sceptical about the rumours about “pro-car measures” in the King’s Speech.

As for the RAC Foundation’s call for an immediate 5p cut in the price of a litre of fuel by the retailers, it just seems like an especially potent blend of special pleading, scapegoating and economic nonsense. Rather predictably, the energy secretary, Claire Coutinho has jumped into the passenger seat of the RAC’s latest sprint for publicity and is bullying the supermarkets into reducing their profit margins.