RE the article about the increase in harbour charges (Mercury January 31).
There are two items in the report which I feel are totally wrong. The 4 per cent increase is way above the rate of inflation, especially in these difficult times, and I have not a clue as to where Cllr Cecil Ridley gets his 2.3 per cent inflation rat
e.
There are two tables compiled by the Office of National Statistics, the Retail Price Index (RPI) which covers some 120,000 goods and services and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which only covers selected items and excludes mortgage interest repayments which is a key part to inflation.
On the December 10 2003 the Chancellor at the time (Gordon Brown) and now the Prime Minister changed from using the RPI to the CPI allegedly to fall in line with the rest of the European Union. The inflation figures for January 2009 will not be published until February 17 so I am relying on the figures for the 12 months to the end of December 2008 which show the RPI at 0.9 per cent and the CPI 3.1 per cent. In my view the RPI is the more reliable because it covers everything. I therefore conclude the 4 per cent increase is unjustified and should have been 1 per cent.
Stan Dickinson
High Croft
Hunmanby
