Gludy,

The real problem is that there is no political clout at all in this group. The voter numbers are too small to have the slightest effect on the election and there is also no material government economic argument to be had. The political message would have to be "we want to continue to give untaxed fuel to folk who have bought a Ł100k motorboat" - can you imagine the headline in "The Daily Mirror" the day after a Hampshire MP stands up and says that? Political suicide. I know it's not that simple, and there's a lot of folk in Ł10k cruisers that will also be hit, but the electorate will see boat owners burning large quantities of fuel as environmentally negative and also that "they can afford it anyway; I have to pay it for my car so why shouldn't they pay it for their motorboat" and the argument is indefensible.

I've just sold out of motorboating because I see diesel at three times the current price as inevitable - and I can't afford to keep boating at that price.

rob