"Brown urges increased oil supply"

This is complete and utter madness on so many levels! What sort of cloud cuckoo land does The Goblin King live in?

Although the UK is over 90% self-sufficient in oil, we only produce 2% of the world's total output. Even if by some miracle, North Sea Oil companies managed to 'turn on the taps' and increase production by 25%, the Middle Eastern countries would only have to reduce production by 2% to negate this. Overall effect on global oil prices - zero.

Vince Cable deserves a kicking as well for his asinine comment if he were chancellor he would wait before making a decision on the 2p fuel duty rise - but added he could not see an easy way to pay for scrapping it. A rise in pump prices from 90p per litre (average for the past few years) to currently £1.15 means extra VAT of 3.75p per litre, anyway, so assuming HM Treasury have done their sums correctly *falls about in mirth* then they should be looking at a 2p reduction in fuel duty.

Funnily enough, Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper may actually have a point when he says "The government should be developing urgent plans to wean us off our addiction to fossil fuels - not increasing UK oil production.", but not because of all this Global Cooling crapola, but because we are basically putting ourselves at the mercy of some pretty malevolent states.