Browsing a couple of online news sites today you'ld think that a fuel crisis was iminent. Stories of leaked govenment plans, threatend driver action and even comments suggesting that panic buying has started abound.
It's generally belived that last time we had a fuel crisis the cause was panic buying rather than the blockading of refineries. So I was wondering, could all this talk actually cause fuel supply problems by leading people to think that a crisis exists even without any form of industrial action or supply problems?
(and yes I recognise the irony of starting a thread to talk about the problems caused by people talking too much about fuel!)
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Gordon Brown would love a "fuel crisis" if only to top up the coffers.
New Labour's public borrowing requirement this year are around £35 billion - all that lovely revenue from desperate motorists filling up their tanks in the event of a fuel crisis would go quite a long way to help Brown's cause.
Remember, politicians never suffer in the same way as ordinary mortals...:-)
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With all this talk I was reminded this morning of the scenes at the local garage last time around, huge queues all the way up the bypass. Now, when people got to the pumps, they found that the reason the queues were so bad wasn't so much the panic buying, it was the fact that the pumps had a problem and were dispensing at maybe a tenth of their usual speed.
It occurred to me this morning that in a funny way it helps the petrol companies if a demonstration is seen to have a massive effect, since it will cause more disruption to people, and make them less likely to support any future demos.
Am I being too cynical thinking that perhaps the problem with the pumps was deliberately inflicted? (At the time we were told by attendents that it was due to an air-lock, but that the tanks were at normal levels at the time)
I think maybe I'm being a bit of a conspiracy theorist here...
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I was happily in Northumberland during the last fuel crisis. But I was told by people who remained in London that the shortage of fuel here meant that the streets were devoid of traffic. Is this not true? (On the basis that this was true, then there was a loss in revenue for the Government & for fuel companies.)
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After about 4-5 days in there were hardly any cars....except for my Nissan Micra.
Pushbike paradise.
I think the press are talking the whole thing up.
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And of course the Chancellor doesn't really mind if in the end he is "forced" to cancel the 2p tax rise. By the time it gets to that point, the higher prices will have already generated more than enough additional tax revenue to cover it.
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Are you trying to suggest that the Chancellor is not greedy, Cliff?
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Are you trying to suggest that the Chancellor is not greedy, Cliff?
No, I'm just saying that he probably doesn't care how he gets the money. If motorists are willing to panic each other into rushing out to pay higher prices for fear that they are going to rise still higher, or the fuel run out, then they are doing his job for him. He can save the 2p increase till later, when we have all thankfully forgotten about the crisis.
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Simple solution to any disruption - have all garages set a MINIMUM delivery of fuel.
The last time, I was running on fumes when I found a garage with fuel and joined the half hour queue. The three people in front of me must have totalled about five litres; they were just brimming their tanks. If that kind of behaviour were discouraged, the problems would have been greatly reduced.
V
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But when you turn up with your scooter requiring 10 litres, that means you will be turned away. Tricky one.
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Most of the petrol pumps I use already have a minimum delivery amount. I can't remember whether it is 4 litres or 2 litres. I am usually putting way more than that in so I don't usually notice. With the sudden increase in prices I am missing my old car more as it used to have a 15 gallon tank and do around 35 mpg. Now I only have a 12 gallon tank and 20 mpg, eeek. Good job I only do about 4-5k a year!
I wonder if it might be a good idea to combine all the fuel price talk into one giant fuel price thread like that has already been done with speed cameras & mobiles? There seem to be several on the go at once.
teabelly
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2 litres, usually - that's there so that the quantity of fuel delivered is materially correct.
I (confession time) picked up a petrol pump the other week & stuffed it into a diesel tank. Fortunately I realised within half a pint, and changed to diesel. They didn't charge me for the half pint of petrol - bargain!
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I wonder if it might be a good idea to combine all the fuel price talk into one giant fuel price thread
It's being considered. DD.
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Apart from increased tax revenue as the pump price goes up, I don't see how a fuel crisis helps the Chancellor. All it means is that a week's supply is bought in a day, and nothing more for the week (simple view!). People don't buy more petrol, or do more miles, if petrol is scarce. Do they?
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Hasn't OPEC just agreed to 'up' production/output?
If so no fuel strikes please.
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Apart from increased tax revenue as the pump price goes up, I don't see how a fuel crisis helps the Chancellor. All it means is that a week's supply is bought in a day, and nothing more for the week (simple view!). People don't buy more petrol, or do more miles, if petrol is scarce. Do they?
Not in the short term, but it's all part of a cunning plot. When the crisis is over, everyone is so relieved they soon forget about it. They accept a compromise increase in prices, which brings in more money for the Chancellor, and in due course he re-introduces the tax rise by stealth. By then petrol is only 95p a litre, not quite a pound, so we are all happy.
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My God, I'm so naive somtimes... :-)
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Truth is the chancellor and the petrol companies will take the petrol and diesel price as high as they can. Wether by design or not we have a country dependant on the car so we have to have fuel at any price.........snookered!
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True - brings in revenue and (in theory) will eventually start getting people off the road / reducing journeys. Win-win for Gordon.
Anyway, who cares how much tax is raised by fuel duty? The Chancellor has spending plans which need funding. If we don't pay it through fuel duty, it'll have to come from income tax (or pretend income tax - National Insurance!) or from increased borrowing, which is not a good thing either. Stuff has to be paid for. Alternative? Vote for a low spending party and watch the country crumble even more.
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Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability.
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