British fuel protesters warn of early action

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

31/10/2000 11:08 - (SA) British fuel protesters warn of early action

London - Organisers of last month's fuel depot blockades across Britain said on Tuesday they would launch new protests ahead of a 13 November deadline if the government failed to meet their demands.

The People's Fuel Lobby and the Farmers For Action groups, campaigning for a cut in taxes on petrol and diesel, voted at a meeting on Monday to organise a slow-moving convoy that would leave the northern English city of Newcastle on 10 November and disrupt motorway traffic on a four-day trip to London.

They believe it should serve as an early strong signal to Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour government that they mean business.

Last month's protests, which virtually brought Britain to its knees, were politically damaging for Blair. Labour plunged behind the opposition Conservatives in opinion polls for the first time since the 1997 general election.

"We're taking vans, tractors, lorries, cars and buses. We're going to be going about 40kph, mainly on motorways," People's Fuel Lobby member John Coxon told Reuters after Monday's meeting in the northwest English city of Manchester.

"We're expecting between 500 000 and 750 000 people," he said.

The convoy would arrive in London on 14 November to coincide with a public meeting in the capital's Hyde Park to protest over what Coxon and his colleagues say are the highest petrol and diesel prices in Europe.

Andrew Spence, a People's Fuel Lobby committee member, said the vote at the 250-strong meeting had been unanimous.

Spence said the convoy would increase in size as it neared London as drivers from elsewhere in Britain joined the action.

"We'll definitely be a force to be reckoned with by the time we get to London," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Armed Forces Minister John Spellar said around 1 000 British troops were being trained to deliver petrol in case supplies were disrupted by a repeat of last month's fuel protests.

Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Jack Straw warned that the government could not guarantee fuel supplies if further protests broke out and warned that industry would be hit.

"We do not have any way in the world that we could maintain supplies, even at 50 percent, if there was very significant disruption," Straw said.

http://news.24.com/News24/World/Europe/0,1113,2-10-19_933675,00.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 31, 2000

Answers

October 31st 'WE CAN'T STOP FUEL CRISIS' OIL BOSSES WARN GOVERNMENT

A second round of fuel protests would bring Britain to a standstill, oil executives have told the Government.

The oil bosses also denied deliberately prolonging the crisis to increase the pressure on the Government to cut fuel duty and boost their profits.

The comments will add to fears that there could be a repeat of September's disruption when hauliers and farmers' 60 day ultimatum to the Government expires on November 13.

On Monday night Home Secretary Jack Straw advised health and education authorities to stock up on petrol in November.

The comments will also increase the pressure on Chancellor Gordon Brown to cut the level of fuel duty in his pre-Budget speech next week.

'Intimidation was factor'

'Not our fault' - Shell boss Malcolm Brinded

Oil executives acknowledged that contingency plans drawn up after last month's crisis would help firms react quicker to another crisis.

But Malcolm Brinded, chairman of Shell UK, warned it would be "foolish to be over-confident".

"If the blockades were in place again it would take us eight to 12 hours to be at the situation it took us six days to reach last time," Mr Brinded said.

"We will naturally not have business as usual. There will be a restriction on supplies we are able to deliver and it will have an impact on national life."

Oil companies had been accused of being reluctant to break the blockades, using the issue of tanker driver safety to delay the delivery of supplies.

But earlier Mr Brinded (pictured) told the committee that the intimidation of tanker drivers by protestors was a much bigger factor in halting oil deliveries than people realised.

http://www1.sky.com/news/politics/story3.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), October 31, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ