Fuel Protestors Considering G8 Summit Action?
oil be damned! | 26.04.2005 01:02 | G8 2005 | Ecology | Globalisation
Report in yesterday's Transport News Network, following the short blockade / picket of Shell's Stanlow oil refinery in Cheshire. Plans for high-profile demonstrations to demand a cut in fuel prices will be discussed at a meeting in Edinburgh today (tues).
Re G8 see report below:
Re G8 see report below:
Troops Ready to Drive Tankers
http://www.tnn.co.uk/CurrentIssues/plonearticle.2005-04-25.3313047712
Whitehall is on an emergency footing should trouble occur during the current Fuel Protests. They are monitoring the latest threats of protests by hauliers, farmers and ordinary motorists, with the Police and oil companies on alert for any blockades such as the one at Stanlow refinery this morning.
About 1000 troops were trained to drive fuel tankers during the protests of 2000 and they can and will be deployed if necessary. A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman confirmed that the Government, police and oil industry were on alert to cope with the possible resumption of fuel protests.
Haulage industry sources have said that the protestors do not wish to hold the country to ransom but want to highlight to ministers that high cost of diesel in this country compared to that on the Continent. They also want to drive home the message that many firms are now on the brink of going under.
Protestors want to meet with treasury and transport ministers as well as presenting a national website petition - www.findcheappetrol.com - to Tony Blair, Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy on May 3. To bring fuel prices in the UK into line with the Continent, the haulage industry want a cut of 17p / litre from the duty levied on unleaded petrol and 26p / litre off the price of diesel.
Following Friday's meeting of hauliers in Stirling, Road Haulage Association member Jim Macauley said that whilst there would be no militant action, other possibilities such as protesting during the G8 Summit or, the entire industry stopping work for a day, were being considered.
The hauliers are also trying to win support from the tanker drivers themselves. But a spokesman for the Transport and General Workers' Union, of which 3000 tanker drivers are members, denied that they had been contacted by the protestors.
The spokesman said that many of the tanker drivers still had bad memories of the 2000 protests when they had been abused and criticised by the protestors. However the TGWU did accept that among many drivers and hauliers there was a strong opinion that fuel prices were too high.
The campaign for lower fuel duty is being backed by the AA Motoring Trust and the recent surge in prices is inflaming concerns over the economy in general.
Whether the troops will be needed remains to be seen, but this is certainly an issue that won't just go away.
http://www.tnn.co.uk/CurrentIssues/plonearticle.2005-04-25.3313047712 Whitehall is on an emergency footing should trouble occur during the current Fuel Protests. They are monitoring the latest threats of protests by hauliers, farmers and ordinary motorists, with the Police and oil companies on alert for any blockades such as the one at Stanlow refinery this morning.
About 1000 troops were trained to drive fuel tankers during the protests of 2000 and they can and will be deployed if necessary. A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman confirmed that the Government, police and oil industry were on alert to cope with the possible resumption of fuel protests.
Haulage industry sources have said that the protestors do not wish to hold the country to ransom but want to highlight to ministers that high cost of diesel in this country compared to that on the Continent. They also want to drive home the message that many firms are now on the brink of going under.
Protestors want to meet with treasury and transport ministers as well as presenting a national website petition - www.findcheappetrol.com - to Tony Blair, Michael Howard and Charles Kennedy on May 3. To bring fuel prices in the UK into line with the Continent, the haulage industry want a cut of 17p / litre from the duty levied on unleaded petrol and 26p / litre off the price of diesel.
Following Friday's meeting of hauliers in Stirling, Road Haulage Association member Jim Macauley said that whilst there would be no militant action, other possibilities such as protesting during the G8 Summit or, the entire industry stopping work for a day, were being considered.
The hauliers are also trying to win support from the tanker drivers themselves. But a spokesman for the Transport and General Workers' Union, of which 3000 tanker drivers are members, denied that they had been contacted by the protestors.
The spokesman said that many of the tanker drivers still had bad memories of the 2000 protests when they had been abused and criticised by the protestors. However the TGWU did accept that among many drivers and hauliers there was a strong opinion that fuel prices were too high.
The campaign for lower fuel duty is being backed by the AA Motoring Trust and the recent surge in prices is inflaming concerns over the economy in general.
Whether the troops will be needed remains to be seen, but this is certainly an issue that won't just go away.
oil be damned!
Comments
Hide the following 2 comments
Grangemouth possible target but not during G8 according to PA News
27.04.2005 17:48
Chief executive of the Road Haulage Association (RHA), Roger King said that members were being contacted about the plan, but insisted that the protest at the refinery near the capital Edinburgh would be "entirely lawful."
Many of the protesters spent Monday night on Wales, outside Texaco's oil refinery in Pembroke and a refinery in Milford Haven operated by Total.
Around 30 to 40 people also staged a protest at Hythe fuel terminal in Fawley, southern England on Tuesday, while the pressure group Farmers For Action also launched a fuel protest at Shell's refinery in Stanlow, north-west England.
Almost five years ago, protesters led by farmers and road hauliers disrupted supplies after setting up blockades around oil refineries in protest at government's fuel taxes, which are the highest in Europe.
The renewed action, which coincides with record petrol and diesel prices, comes after the government introduced new legislation aimed at preventing a repetition of the chaos caused by the blockages in 2000.
King said the protest at Grangemouth stood "a good chance" of being the largest demonstration so far in the UK, but insisted that the hauliers "do not condone the blockading of any oil refinery." In an attempt to make fuel taxes an election issue, he said he would "like to hear from any of the political parties about their transport policy."
According to PA News, the RHA's Scottish director, Phil Flanders, has ruled out staging protests at forthcoming G8 Summit at Gleneagles, in Scotland in July.
updates
Alternative fuels now!
30.04.2005 15:27
Oil is running out, the earths core can only be sucked dry for a finite time!
What responsibility are we taking?
Jo
e-mail:
joannapem@aol.com