Petrol protests are "anti-market", not "anti-tax"

[Keaney Michael <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

The Herald (Scotland), 19 September 2000

Future deal with oil firms
      hits blockade

      CATHERINE MacLEOD and MICHAEL
      SETTLE

      THE first round in a tough battle between the
      Government and oil companies, to ensure a
      future fuel protest could never again paralyse
      the country, ended without an agreement last
      night.

      Legislation to protect the flow of oil supplies will
      not be on the statute book before the road
      hauliers' 60-day ultimatum is reached in
      November, but the Prime Minister intends to
      finesse any possibility of a protest by reaching a
      voluntary agreement with the oil companies
      before then.

      Last night was the first meeting of the fuel task
      force, with Ministers, led by Home Secretary
      Jack Straw, trying to thrash out arrangements
      with the oil companies and the police.

      There was little indication of measures to keep
      the oil moving, but Downing Street revealed it
      would look at a range of proposals including
      making changes to the contractual
      arrangements with the oil tanker drivers, many
      of whom are self-employed, and the imposition
      of new legal duties on oil firms to guarantee oil
      supplies.

      While the Government's task force tries to
      hammer out a practical solution for the free flow
      of oil, Ministers behind the scenes are battling
      to persuade the Chancellor to make more
      conciliatory noises to members of the general
      public who feel aggrieved at the high cost of
      fuel.

      There is little sympathy within Labour's ranks for
      either the hauliers or the farmers, who they feel
      are already subsidised, but many MPs believe
      the Government's leadership has failed to
      understand the hostility in the country.

      That battle will likely rage on until the pre-Budget
      statement in November.

      Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy
      called on the Government to slap a five-year
      cap on fuel tax increases. And in a clear
      warning to oil companies, he told his party's
      annual conference in Bournemouth that if they
      failed to recognise their social responsibilities,
      then a Lib-Dem government would tax the firms'
      "excess profits".

      The task force, split into three separate
      subgroups which start meeting today, will
      reconvene on Friday.

      Last night Mr Straw, shied away from any
      challenge to the protesters. Asked if the fuel
      crisis would ever happen again, he replied: "It is
      a very rash Minister who says something will
      never happen again but what we are working on
      is a very significant reduction of the risk of this
      kind of disruptive action."

      Earlier, First Minister Donald Dewar yesterday
      pledged that the Government would study the
      lessons of the fuel blockade in a "calm" and
      considered way.

      Before flying to London to attend the task force
      meeting, Mr Dewar said that at Grangemouth,
      like other refineries in other parts of the UK, a
      small group of protesters had been able to
      block the lifeline to commerce and industry.

      "Whatever you may think about the issue, that is
      a situation that has very serious implications,"
      the Minister added.

      Protesters have called for an immediate cut of
      12p a litre on all fuel and demanded urgent talks
      with Chancellor Gordon Brown and Mr Dewar.
      But Mr Dewar yesterday appeared to rule this
      out, and said: "One of the interesting matters is
      who exactly does lead this ill-defined network
      and how representative they are."

      Mr Kennedy urged the Prime Minister to use the
      "VAT windfall" from the higher than expected
      fuel prices, put by some at £1bn, "to ease the
      burden on the travelling public".

      He also said the Government should support
      people in rural communities, who rely on fuel,
      through, for example, rate relief on rural fuel
      stations and increased investment in community
      public transport.

      Some senior Lib-Dem figures feel that a system
      of "postcoding" should be introduced where,
      say, a petrol station in Inverness would be able
      to sell fuel much cheaper than in a conurbation
      like Glasgow.

      Mr Kennedy told delegates: "Liberal Democrats
      believe that the Government must be more open
      about the money it receives from fuel and how it
      is spent."

      The party leader insisted that however
      well-meaning last week's protesters were,
      public policy could not be determined on who
      had "the loudest voice or who can bring things
      to a halt".

      Throughout Scotland yesterday, traffic was
      returning to normal, with rush hour being
      described as almost back to normal by
      motoring organisations.

      An AA Roadwatch spokes-woman said: "It
      certainly was very busy around Glasgow during
      rush hour with a near normal flow of traffic that
      you would expect on a Monday."

      The majority of filling stations were also said to
      have fuel.

      In a further development in the fuel row, there
      was outrage last night as the Shell oil company
      stood by its threat to close unprofitable retail
      sites in rural areas in spite of making global
      profits of $8.6bn last year.

      Mr John Edmonds, the general secretary of the
      GMB, launched a vitriolic attack on the oil
      company as it emerged Shell is continuing to
      appeal to Government for "a form of subsidy" to
      maintain low profit-making retail sites in country
      areas.

Full article at
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/19-9-19100-1-41-48.html