Petrol Strike Immanent
You only have to pull into the petrol station to fill up your car to realise that petrol prices are on the increase again. The reasons behind this increase that could reach a new all time high in 2005 are discussed in the previous article titled 'Petrol to reach all time high'. The combination of raised motoring costs such as road tax and van insurance are beginning to takes its toll on the motoring community with a sharp rise in petrol costs to be the last straw.
The problem is that nobody in the UK can see an end to our fuel costs rocketing with the increase in costs of crude oil and the government imposing an increase in excise duty on petrol. The inflated costs of petrol will hit haulier companies harder than any other within the UK and early reports on 25/04/2005 have suggested that they are no longer willing to stand for the increase in petrol prices.
Early reports have seen vehicles gathering outside some of the UK's major petrol distribution plants in what can only be seen as the start of a protest blockade. If these protests are as organised as the ones that took place in 2000 this could see Britain come to a standstill once again with a shortage and panic buying of petrol.
The government assure the general public that it is prepared for a similar situation that left may of us stranded in September 2000. They have set up measures to keep petrol flowing to Britain with the help of the army. These methods are to insure that emergency services will have enough fuel to provide a service to the UK and assure that doctors and nurses have enough petrol in their cars to get to work.
I for one am glad that these processes have been put into place in case of emergencies during any petrol blockade action. However I also agree with the farmers and the hauliers who are taking part in the demonstrations that the cost of petrol in the UK needs to come down.
Instead of devising methods to deal with a problem if it occurs maybe the government needs to tackle the issue from the roots of the problem. The fact is that we all pay our road tax and fork out on yearly van insurance premiums so why should we put up with extortionate fuel prices? Maybe the soon to be newly elected government should address the situation as quickly as possible to avoid a repeat of the ugly scenes of 2000 if it isn't too late already.