In order for 2012 society in the UK to work, people and things need to move about. To do that, fuel needs to be burnt and to do that fuel needs to be bought. The vast majority of fuel usage is the transportation of things we buy [i.e. food, provisions etc...] and commuting to/from work.
Tax is one of the biggest elements in the cost of fuel. An increase, particularly a large one, will have a direct effect on the cost of living. That is, the bread we buy will be more expensive, the plumbing repairs to our house will be more expensive etc... This price inflation will lead to wage inflation which will put us back to where we started.
There's also the additional problem that if Britain raises tax on fuel in isolation, it will become a very expensive place to source stuff from and our exports will suffer as other countries go elsewhere.
Of course it's possible to encourage people to buy more economical vehicles, and for manufacturers to develop them, but for the most part that's happening anyways.
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