Unjustified rise in price of gas bottles

The attempt by Liquigas to justify the high increase in bottle prices is flawed. The usual method of choosing statistics to prove a comparison is to choose those that support your claim. This is only of help if you choose "like for like" figures.

Certainly in the case of using UK prices, a true comparison cannot be made because Malta only has bottled gas and it is used by all customers. In the UK, bottled gas is mainly used only by a few people and as a luxury commodity in caravans. A piped gas supply is used by the vast majority of people for domestic heating and cooking, a facility Malta does not have. On this basis, Malta's bottled gas should be cheaper as it is a vital requirement here, and dearer in the UK as a lesser-used item.

This appears to be another example of a UK problem where a government-owned facility is sold to a private company which immediately puts up the prices to justify its investment, not to say the dividends for the shareholders (don't forget the shareholders).

So-called market prices should never be used to justify a price rise of this proportion but a price rise that reflects what the customer can reasonably be expected to afford.

Please, think again Liquigas.