Ministers warned Britain faces paralysis in days as police and firms are urged to break protests Special report: The petrol war Peter Hetherington, Patrick Wintour and Charlotte Denny Tuesday September 12, 2000 Ministers were last night pressing police and oil companies to break the blockade of refineries and fuel distribution depots by road hauliers and farmers as Britain faced its worst picketing crisis since the miners' strike 15 years ago. With panic-buying closing hundreds of filling stations around Britain, rationing in force in many areas and emergency services restricting all but essential calls, Tony Blair hardened his line by calling on the home secretary, Jack Straw, to ensure that extra police will be available. Rejecting calls from petrol retailers for a reduction in fuel duty, Downing Street made clear that additional forces were necessary to protect delivery drivers from intimidation and keep supplies running to station forecourts. But hopes that the world price of oil would soon fall were dealt a blow last night. Even higher prices could be in store soon after world markets ignored a weekend promise by oil producers to pump more crude oil into the system. As the big oil companies warned that Britain faced paralysis within a few days, the prime minister set his face against meeting militant farmers, drivers, or their lobbying organisations. He is determined not to follow his French counterpart Lionel Jospin, who has caved in to protests. Mr Blair believes that with vigorous policing there are sufficient refineries and exits from them to overcome the blockades. Ministers seem to believe that in practice fewer refineries are being blocked that reported in the media. But Roy Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailers' Association, warned last night that the government's hard line is playing into the hands of the protesters. "It is in danger of getting the motorist to fall in behind the protesters," he said. "I think politicians saying they are not going to do anything about the problem is really very likely to swing public opinion firmly behind the protests." He warned that in the next 48 hours ministers would have to make some positive moves to restore supplies, particularly for emergency supplies "because the industry was not prepared for this crisis". He joined Downing Street in calling for the oil companies to consider taking legal action against protesters, but the large producers - notably Shell, and BP - appeared cool about escalating the dispute. Shell, first hit by the blockade at its Stanlow refinery in Cheshire, said it would not resort to the law. Police have a variety of powers - but none under the last government's trade union laws because this is not classed as a union dispute. Nevertheless, under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act of 1994 they could arrest individuals causing harm to people and property or unlawfully blocking the highway. And under the Public Order Act of 1986 they have the power to arrest protesters for threatening or abusive behaviour or harassment. Around the country, from Scotland to Cornwall, motorists formed long queues at filling stations. Many were turned away. Police had to be called to disperse angry motorists at one filling station in Derby which had doubled the price of fuel. Repercussions spread far beyond the forecourt. Liverpool taxi drivers brought the city to a standstill. Anglesey council in North Wales said rubbish collections will stop today because fuel has dried up. West Sussex had stopped all non-emergency use of fire engines. Matthew Aitkin, a haulage contractor protesting outside BP's Grangemouth refinery in Scotland summed up the mood of defiance. "We would like to stop all the tankers coming out of Grangemouth so I'm afraid Joe Public is going suffer - the only thing that will move the government is Joe Public suffering." The CBI, meanwhile, urged the Government to cut duty on diesel. "They have an opportunity to demonstrate to business that it recognises the pressure business is under." Union leaders at the TUC in Glasgow showed signs of supporting the protesters. Roger Lyons, of the MSF, said: "The inaction of Opec is unsatisfactory and given the action of the French government last week in making concessions on fuel duty, when the French rates were lower than in Britain, the increasing cost in Britain of oil based products is looking more and more like highway robbery." Running on empty: � Texaco A third of 957 garages nationwide are close to empty or dry. Four of its 12 oil terminals (Avonmouth, Cardiff, Manchester and Poole) are at a standstill � Esso 350 out of its 1,600 outlets are dry. There are protests at four depots (Manchester, Bristol, Hythe, near Southampton, and Purfleet, Essex) � BP 600 out of 1,500 filling stations are empty or close to empty. All garages in Wales are dry. Protesters are trying to close Scotland's only oil refinery in Grangemouth, near Falkirk � Shell 350 out of 1,100 garages have run out of fuel or are running dry. Refinery at Kingsbury, Warwickshire, closed but ones at Buncefield in Hertfordshire and Plymouth still operating � TotalFinaElf 30-40% of its 1,400 petrol stations close to empty or dry. Both refineries, at Milford Haven, in Pembrokeshire and Killingholme in north Lincolnshire, are closed � Sainsbury's 20% of its 223 petrol stations have now run dry _______________________________________________ Crashlist resources: http://website.lineone.net/~resource_base To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/crashlist
