Safe Speed Forums

It wasn't just the tanker drivers caused the situation. It was Joe Public filling every car they owned to the brim within 7 hours that emptied the pumps. I saw someone filling a classic Rolls that had cobwebs and dust all over .

Protesters to fire “warning shot” to the government.

Transaction 2007, the group behind the fuel protests taking place around the country tomorrow, have said that the protests are aiming to “fire a warning shot to the government.” David Handley, spokesperson for group, warned, “it's our intention to come back in January and let's put it like this, it won't be quite as peaceful as it's going to be tomorrow.”

He continued: “we have got contingency plans for where the next stage of this will go. I'm obviously not going to discuss that because the next element has got to be a surprise. That's the only way that you'll have the impact with government to make them realise that you mean business.”

Handley hopes the protests will show politicians how angry motorists are at rising fuel prices. Transaction 2007 blame the current tax system, whereby duty and VAT are added the price of petrol. He said: “we have not got an issue with tax if tax is totally transparent. It's got to be fair, it's got to be shown that the money that's drawn from the revenue from fuel, should be used to create a better infrastructure, better investment in transport and not used to prop up the inefficient management of the cash flow from government.”

The protests tomorrow will start at 10am at fuel refineries and depots across the country, including those in Manchester, Southampton, Liverpool, Essex, Cardiff, and Lincolnshire. Despite the threat of further, potentially more disruptive action early next year, Handley maintains that tomorrow's action will be peaceful. Transaction 2007 were involved in the fuel protests in 2000, where lorry drivers blockaded refineries, leading to nationwide fuel shortages. But Handley maintained: “we were accused last time by a lot of people who didn't want to take part of not doing it in the correct manner. This time we're doing it in the correct way. We're sending a message in a peaceful form, but if people don't address that and listen to us then 2000 is likely to happen all over again.”

Early indications from polls and comments on our blog have suggested that whilst motorists are angry at rising fuel prices, opinions are divided as to whether targeting refineries is the best method of protest. In addition, only 183 people have said they will be protesting tomorrow. It has been suggested that it would be better to send a petition to the government or protest in London, because they are responsible for the tax on fuel.

However, Stephen Joseph from the Campaign for Better Transport believes that reducing tax on fuel would be the worst thing the government could do. “It gives motorists the false sense of security that they can continue to drive around in their gas guzzlers. High tax acts as an incentive for motorists to switch to greener alternatives.” He continued, “fuel tax in the UK is not drastically higher than the rest of Europe. We are now only around 1% higher than countries such as Germany, France and the Netherlands.”

So are we paying too much in tax on our fuel in the UK? Should we ensure that all our tax gets spent on motoring? Or should we continue to tax at the current rate to encourage greener alternatives?

However, Stephen Joseph from the Campaign for Better Transport believes that reducing tax on fuel would be the worst thing the government could do. “It gives motorists the false sense of security that they can continue to drive around in their gas guzzlers. High tax acts as an incentive for motorists to switch to greener alternatives."

Just in case anyone has forgotten, CBT are Transport 2000 in a new guise. They advertise in the Guardian for staff.

Just look at the blind prejudice above. After reading this, I just had to go out for an aimless drive round in my 6 litre sportscar to calm down.

Fuel protests fail to gain widespread support
By Sarah Marcus and agencies
Last Updated: 2:31pm GMT 15/12/2007

Nationwide protests planned by rebel hauliers and farmers over the rising cost of fuel have failed to draw many supporters.

An umbrella group, Transaction 2007, had announced its intention to organise demonstrations “at a refinery or storage depot somewhere near you”.

The announcement sparked fears of a repeat of the blockades of 2000 which brought the country to a standstill.

However, it seemed that a combination of the cold weather and Christmas shopping kept many people away from the protests this time.

Eight people gathered at the Ellesmere refinery in Cheshire, where Tom Houghton, the local organiser, said the action was not a failure.

“We are sending the message to Mr Brown loud and clear,” he said. “It only takes a few trucks to bring this country to gridlock.”

At Purfleet in Essex just one pensioner turned up to protest. June Walker, 61, said "I've got nothing to do with the haulage industry. I'm just a pensioner who pays £57 to fill up a Peugeot 307.

"I am fed up of this Labour government. This is tax on the poor because, when you have to pay so much for fuel, it knocks on to everything else."

The largest turnout was at the Fawley refinery in Southampton, where there was a gathering of 25 people, while a demonstration outside the Texaco refinery at Cardiff’s Roath Dock drew a small group.

Stuart Andrews, a 54-year-old contractor from Usk, south Wales, said: "Fuel prices are getting out of control. We'll be out of business if it keeps going up like this.”

The rise in world oil prices and increased government taxes on petrol and diesel have recently seen average UK fuel prices pass the £1 a litre mark for the first time.

Meanwhile Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK and Greenpeace have called on the Government to increase fuel duty, saying that the cost of motoring had fallen 10% in real terms since Labour came to power in 1997, while the cost of public transport had risen, with bus fares up 13% and trains up by 6%.

The three leading environmental groups said that if the UK is to effectively tackle climate change, the country’s carbon emissions must fall by at least 80% by 2050.

Meanwhile Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK and Greenpeace have called on the Government to increase fuel duty, saying that the cost of motoring had fallen 10% in real terms since Labour came to power in 1997, while the cost of public transport had risen, with bus fares up 13% and trains up by 6%.

They can't even peddle the environment line about new cars. A line of the new diesel polos/golfs at 75% capacity i'm sure is more 'friendly' than a 75% full bus. Nothing to back this up, just the experience of sitting behind a bus on my bike compared to sitting behind cars on my bike

i'll be interested in what they say once cars have reached such a high level of efficiency that they definitely out do buses in terms of environmental impact (especially considering the stop-start journeys buses do no matter if the road is clear).