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The last fuel protest seemed to keep prices down for a while but here we again, the £ barrier is broken like the wall of a dam and soon the price of fuel will soar. I'm afraid they have us by the whatsits and there seems little we can do except stand and take it.
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I doubt the French would just stand and take it!
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Will the British public sit back and take it?
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in the last fuel protest i took my bike up to the local garage and filled it up as a fall back measure.. and got into a right arguement about queue jumping
i drove past all the people queueing, parked next to a parked and unattended vehicle at the pump (driver inside queueing to pay), filled the bike up, then wheeled it to one side out of the way, so wouldn't hold anyone up
and the bloke behind had a right old pop......didn't agree with him and would do the same again, although i'd be interested to see if others agree
sorry if this hijacks the thread, but not interesting enough to start a new one
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I recently filled up at a very busy garage (the fuel shortage rumours are catching on), and eight police motorcyclists pulled up immediately behind me. I moved the car forward, and thought 'I bet they didn't see the wife go in to pay before they arrived'.
They looked a lot less threatening when she came back and got in the car.
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I wonder if we will see large queues forming outside our local filling stations tomorrow?
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Oh great, can't wait for some self-appointed people's champion from the West Country or North Wales to appear on the TV spouting utter garbage and blockading fuel depots, followed by a load of bone headed truckers deciding for me how fast I drive on the motorway with dangerous four-abreast road blocks while Plod just looks on.
After all it achieved so much last time........
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Oh well, glad I commute by cycle these days - beats spending £300 per month on fuel in my last job..... (smug grin)
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I was in Spain during the last fuel protests so missed it all.
Am very much looking forward to working from home to conserve diesel! ;-)
Westpig - I expect people were annoyed with you because you jumped the queue, especially as it was availability of fuel that was the concern, rather than time spent queueing. Am intrigued at how you managed it though as all the pumps I've seen don't allow you to use them until the person who used it last has paid, even if they used unleaded and you want diesel.
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PG, there is no "technical reason" why you need to wait for payment before authorising again. probably is best practice but if attendant wants to authorise then he/she can.
On a slightly different note, how many people know what the law states that an attendant should do before authorising? When you lift the pump, it beeps on their console, they should look up, visually check that nozzle is in tank, no naked flames, not using your phone, not trying to use an unauthorised plastic container etc etc. If they cannot see nozzle into tank then they should not authorise it.
Recently I have become more and more aware that the attendants very rarely actually even look up at you never mind doing all the checks they should be doing!
On a slightly different line, if there is a fuel protest and fuel shortages then this will be the first time I will have missed working for one of the big supermarkets. Were always guaranteed fuel no matter what.......
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Nsar: "After all it achieved so much last time........"
Ah, how short our memories are. The effect on the Government's popularity ratings led directly to the end of the fuel duty escalator.
V
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I did my panic buying yesterday. Go for it, I say...
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So what do they hope to achieve this time, given that the price of fuel is higher than it was during the last episode?
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Oh great can't wait for some self-appointed people's champion from the West Country or North Wales
Laughs.
Last time the "protests" were on, saw some moron being interviewed in the queue "Oi 'eard they woz panick buyin' ... so I thort Oi would come daahn and fill up now!" he says. Does he realise the delicious irony of this statement?
My brother works at one of the local hospitals in the South, and is on call 24hrs. He said that one morning, about 4:30, he was returning from a call-out, stopped for petrol, and some bloke in front of him was in his pyjamas, trickle-filling his car, as well as filling up a jerry can 'for his lawn mower'. At 4:30 am????
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What's the point? The protests last time didn't target the real source of the problem - the Government. Unless there's some way to drag them out of their ivory tower they won't do anything except wring their hands and blame it on high crude oil prices.
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Obviously you are quite happy to be paying over £1 per litre of fuel. At least these 'bone headed truckers' as you describe them, are prepared to at least try and do something about it!!! So the organisers were just from North Wales and the west country were they?
8
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 30/11/2007 at 17:53
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i drove past all the people queueing parked next to a parked and unattended vehicle at the pump (driver inside queueing to pay) filled the bike up then wheeled it to one side out of the way so wouldn't hold anyone up
I would do the same (though would expect to get had a go at!)
The worst recently was when I pulled in to a large petrol station which had pumps in front of each other (ie you can't get to the front one while there is a car parked at the back one - hope that makes sense!).
There was a lady filling up at the back pump but the front one was empty, and there was a queue behind the lady. I drove round everyone and after a lot of maneuvering (no idea how you spell that!) managed to get into the pump in front of her which everyone else had been ignoring.
I filled up using the "pay @ pump" and was gone before she had come back out of the garage having paid. However a big scary looking man from a white van came to have a go at me for skipping the queue. Most of the cars in the queue (not sure about the van) could have done what I did, it was tight but I was in a Mondeo so not the smallest of cars and I managed it.
I do accept that I was probably being a bit cheeky but I don't really see what is wrong with it. If there is a pump that no-one is using then don't see why I can't!
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I'm pretty sure HMG quietly passed some legislation after the last lot that gives them a lot more teeth to deal with 'events' like this..... Anyway, they will just say Fuel duty or income tax - take your pick, we're spending your money how we like anyway.
Since my cars burn > 3500 litres of diesel each year between them, I'd prefer the income tax, but there you go.....
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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if you have a taxi driver living next door remember to have your fire extinguishers tested!!
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Fuel duty or income tax - take your pick
Since my cars burn > 3500 litres of diesel each year between them I'd prefer the income tax but there you go.....
Agree with your point, but I think that I am more of a fan of regressive taxation than you are, so keep on taxing fuel. Also bung a few pennies on fags (as I have given up!!) and get rid of all those cheap nasty ones at under £4.50.
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in the last fuel protest i took my bike up to the local garage and filled it up as a fall back measure.. and got into a right arguement about queue jumping
and the bloke behind had a right old pop......didn't agree with him and would do the same again although i'd be interested to see if others agree
Im sure your a very nice and reasonable chap WestPig, BUT if I'd been in the queue for half an hour / hour etc and you wizzed passed me on a bike or in a car and filled up, I would of got out of my car and politely explained to you that there was a queue and to get to the back of it, bike or no bike.... if you continued to fuel up I think my temper would of got the better of me.
At the last fuel protest there was a massive fight on the forecourt of the local Texaco near my work place becuase a chap on a bike did the same thing. People were going mad and it ended up with a 4 on 1 situation, the police had to come and save the bloke and his Honda.... all over a few litres of petrol :)
Lee
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