Britain In Chaos: Fuel - Hysteria spreads across Britain's

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

Britain In Chaos: Fuel - Hysteria spreads across Britain's forecourts despite pleas for calm Source: The Independent - London Publication date: 2000-11-04

APPEALS FOR calm from the Prime Minister were ignored yesterday as tens of thousands of motorists throughout Britain besieged garage forecourts in an attempt to fill up with petrol. Assurances from fuel protesters that they had no intention of blockading refineries also fell on deaf ears and panic-buying worsened.

In scenes reminiscent of September's fuel crisis, garages ran dry and queues lengthened as the hysteria seemed to spread from south to north. Some areas reported that petrol sales had soared by more than two-thirds and managers of 24-hour petrol stations said that some people had queued overnight.

Oil companies were playing down the situation, but garage managers trying to order more petrol often found it impossible to get through to their suppliers. A spokeswoman for BP said the company was making extra deliveries and urged people to keep calm. But she admitted that demand was up to 70 per cent higher.

A spokesman for Esso said deliveries were running just 10 per cent above normal and that people should not panic because there was plenty of fuel available.

Speaking at a press conference in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tony Blair also urged the public not to panic. There was no need for anyone to "change the pattern of their behaviour", he said.

But with more than a week to go before the protesters' 60-day deadline of 13 November, motorists ignored his advice and queues continued to lengthen all over the country.

Senior police officers warned that stockpiling of fuel was potentially dangerous, especially in the days leading to Guy Fawkes night tomorrow.

Devon and Cornwall's assistant chief constable, Ian Latimer, spoke out following reports of hundreds of people buying petrol cans.

"It is causing us concern, especially with Bonfire Night approaching, and we would advise them not to do it," he said.

The emergency services warned motorists there was a legal limit to how much fuel could be stored: up to 15 litres at home and 10 litres in a car.

The panic-buying seemed to start in southern England. Vince Lethbridge, manager at the Eltham Service Station in south-east London, described the situation as "sheer chaos".

He said: "I had a delivery on Thursday morning and just 24 hours later I have just got a little bit of diesel and LRP [Lead Replacement Petrol]. I don't know when I am going to get my next delivery. It has been chaos - people are just panic-buying.

"I have been on the phone to the Esso depot trying to find out when I will get my next delivery but the lines are constantly engaged - obviously everyone else in the country is trying to get deliveries as well.

"I am not looking forward to the deadline. We have already had the police round discussing how they will marshall the streets."

One petrol station manager in Gravesend, Kent, who asked not to be named, said: "We are open 24 hours a day and we have had people queueing up all through the night. People are panic-buying and we cannot see an end to it, really."

Frank Harris, 54, from Northfleet, was queueing up at a Shell station in Gravesend. He said: "I am worried that I am not going to be able to get any petrol so I have come out. I blame the Government. Jack Straw advised everyone to keep their car tanks filled up and that is what I am doing."

Heather Taylor, 32, from Sidcup, Kent, said: "I don't care if it's panic-buying or not - I don't want to be the one that runs out of petrol when the time comes."

(Copyright 2000 Independent Newspapers (UK) Limited)

http://cnniw.yellowbrix.com/pages/cnniw/Story.nsp?story_id=15473995&ID=cnniw&scategory=Energy%3AOil

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 04, 2000

Answers

Britain fuel crisis fanned by mass hysteria: oil industry LONDON (November 5) : As motorists queued for petrol on Saturday as the latest spate of panic-buying gripped Britain, the oil industry said the public themselves were to blame for the crisis, and not fuel shortages. Some filling stations ran dry on Friday after motorists, worried that renewed action by fuel tax protestors planned for nine days' time will choke off fuel supplies, flocked to the pumps to fill up.

The last time the demonstrators were in action, in September, they blockaded oil refineries and depots, bringing Britain to a near standstill. But this time around, the protestors have said they will not try to restrict fuel supplies, while oil companies said there was more than enough fuel to go around. According to Ray Holloway, head of the Petroleum Retailers' Association, motorists are queuing not for any logical reasons, but because they are swept up in the panic. Their fears become self-fulfilling when panic-buying and hoarding of petrol results in shortages, he added. "Some people are calling it the Moscow Syndrome," he told Sky News. "There is a long queue outside a building. You don't know why there is a queue but you just feel you have to join it. That is what is happening here."

Some filling stations in London and south-east England were forced to shut on Friday as their pumps ran dry and there were reports of long queues at forecourts in Liverpool, in north-west England, and in the south-west. Many motorists were reported to be filling jerry cans as well as their petrol tanks. A spokesman for oil company Texaco said it had recorded "a substantial increase" in sales at its filling stations, but added that petrol supplies were normal. The tabloid Mirror newspaper on Saturday dismissed motorists' behaviour as hysteria. Its front-page carried a picture of a flock of sheep walking through a petrol station under the headline; "Britain becomes a petrol-grabbing nation of mad panic-stricken sheep."

In an editorial the Mirror, which supports the ruling Labour government, exhorted its readers not to make matters worse by indulging in panic-buying. "There is no shortage of fuel in Britain but there are garages which have run out, long queues and thousands of motorists with 'full tanks which will last them for weeks." "The only thing which is a real threat is motorists' panic. Their fears are self-fulfilling."

The opposition Conservative Party on Friday blamed the government for triggering the run on fuel. It said the government had created a "climate of anxiety" by announcing earlier this week it would bring in the army if protestors tried to disrupt fuel supplies again. But according to one psychologist, the panic-buying was caused by selfish traits in human nature.

"When there is scarcity, people are frightened of losing out so they hoard," Martin Skinner of Warwick University told The Guardian newspaper. "It shows a rather unpleasant aspect of human beings that people are just concerned for themselves and not any overall social composure."

The government and police have appealed for calm. "The only shortages there will be are if people continue to panic unnecessarily," said Mike Tonge. Assistant Chief Constable in Merseyside, north-west England.-AFP

..........Copyright 2000 AFP (Published under arrangement with Associated Press of Pakistan)

http://www.brecorder.com/story/S00DD/SDK05/SDK05188.htm

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 05, 2000.


news | UK | This_Britain | 2000-11

Government prepares for fuel crisis and further floods

By Colin Brown and Steve Richards

5 November 2000

With parts of Britain at a virtual standstill this weekend, Tony Blair and his senior ministers are facing their most serious crisis since they were elected to power three-and-a-half years ago. Heavy flooding is causing chaos in parts of England and Wales, with predictions of much worse weather to come in the next few days. Panic buying of petrol is continuing, with some oil companies warning that "demand is outstripping supply". Much of the rail network is closed.

For the Government, as well as the country, the stakes could not be higher. Privately, some ministers admit that the Government has appeared to be drifting for months, responding to events rather than shaping them, being thrown helplessly from one crisis to another.

This weekend, Mr Blair and John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, have rearranged their schedules to address the continuing chaos caused by the flooding. Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, also in constant touch with the Prime Minister, has been putting the finishing touches to his pre-Budget report. None of them are sure how the different crises will be resolved. All of them are certain they need to give the impression, at least, that they are in control.

Anxious ministers are hoping that they will regain the initiative when Mr Brown unveils his pre-Budget report on Wednesday. He will announce some concessions for hauliers, more cash for councils battling against the appalling weather and a big boost for pensioners.

The Chancellor will resist demands for a 26p cut in fuel duty made by militant fuel protesters, but he will make a number of concessions in a package that will be billed as "modernising the haulage industry". He is expected to announce a new "Brit disc" to combat unfair foreign competition, leaving him free to slash vehicle excise duty (VED) on heavy lorries by more than B#1,500 a year. He will also announce measures aimed at helping those more dependent on cars in rural areas. These will include cuts in vehicle excise duty for smaller- engined cars and an extension of tax breaks for rural taxis.

All hauliers using UK roads are likely to be required to buy a "Euro vignette" costing about B#1,500. UK hauliers will be able to reclaim the money with a cut in their VED. The European Commission will have to approve the move, but commission sources in London said it was unlikely to be rejected.

Senior ministers and Labour MPs from different sections of the party have made it clear to Downing Street that they would oppose a cut in fuel duty in an attempt to appease the more extreme protesters.

Ministers are confident, but not certain, that Mr Brown will make enough concessions to take the sting out of the dispute. At the very least they believe that the Government's package of measures will heighten the divisions among the protesters' leaders. The Home Secretary, Jack Straw, said there was no need for panic buying of petrol this weekend, but he could not guarantee that there would be no further disruption to petrol supplies.

He added that those who had responded to his calls not to panic by rushing out to queue for petrol were behaving like Corporal Jones in Dad's Army. In a further warning to the protesters, Mr Straw said it would be "profoundly callous" to blockade food depots and put lives at risk.

The appalling weather has added to the sense of chaos and mayhem around the country. The Government cannot be blamed for the weather, but successive administrations, including this one, must take responsibility for the flimsy defences that have been so inadequately placed against the elements. The amount of cash councils raise and spend is heavily controlled by central government.

For now ministers are left to paper over the cracks. With water levels expected to reach new levels in the middle of this week, Mr Prescott held an emergency cabinet committee meeting yesterday morning, followed by a separate meeting with Mr Blair who had cut short a visit to his constituency in Sedgefield.

The Deputy Prime Minister announced more financial support for the councils. A total of B#51m will be allocated over the next four years for flood defences and research.

Mr Prescott also called for the insurance industry to respond more quickly and effectively to the crisis, and urged local authorities in the effected areas to work even more closely with the relevant agencies. He spent part of yesterday afternoon giving live interviews on network television and radio, outlining the latest measures. Inadvertently, he revealed how basic some of these still were. More sandbags were heading for York, Mr Prescott told Sky News. This was how unprepared they were. The authorities had run out of bags.

Home owners in the worst affected areas have been warned by the Environment Agency that there is "a lot more grief to come". The River Ouse in York was at its highest since 1625 and 5,500 properties remained under threat. The floods in the city came within two inches of breaching the defences. Police officers monitoring the city warned that flood levels were "still on a knife edge".

The sense of crisis was heightened by the closure of large parts of the rail network this weekend. After the Hatfield crash another 20 miles of track was being replaced. Passengers on the East Coast mainline were advised not to travel. One in five services on the West Coast services run by Virgin were cancelled. Only half the Great Western trains to Wales were running. Some mainline stations were closed for the weekend.

The Chancellor is said to be frustrated that his pre-Budget statement has been virtually hijacked by the fuel protesters and the other crises. His original intention, before the country ground to a halt, was to use this Wednesday's package as a taster for the general election. Now he has a more subtle task: of addressing the short-term crises afflicting the country as well as conveying his wider economic message.

Even so Mr Brown intends to range widely this week in order to regain some political momentum. He will tell the CBI conference tomorrow that he will not put inflation at risk by relaxing fiscal discipline. He will say: "I can assure you there will not be a return to short- termism. There will be no sudden lurches in tax or spending policy, no unsustainable pre-election sprees."

The Chancellor is determined that the fuel dispute will not dominate his autumn statement. According to one aide, the package on fuel will form only a small part of his speech. He will highlight, also, large increases in the state pension, as much as B#5 for single pensioners and B#8 for couples. He will also announce a B#1bn package of urban regeneration measures, countering the Conservatives' attempts to place the inner cities at the centre of their policy agenda.

Ministers know that, although the origins of the various crises are deep and complicated, it is they who will ultimately get the blame. The test they set themselves for their first term in power was to prove their competence. With many people stuck in their homes, unable to travel, with business leaders comparing Britain to a banana republic, they do not look very competent this weekend.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/This_Britain/2000- 11/floodfrt051100.shtml

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), November 05, 2000.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ