Opinions - Mob Rule 1

Mob Rule 2 - The Fuel Crisis

This country has just undergone a fuel crisis. As I write this, there are queues at filling stations throughout the land. People are waiting for hours in lines of non-moving traffic in order to fill their tanks. Because our supermarkets are supplied by road, the thought runs through people's minds that there may not be enough to go round, so they make sure that they get their share, and more, by panic buying of everything from bread and milk to toilet rolls. Now that is an interesting diversion - toilet rolls. On average a four pack toilet roll should last the average family for, let us assume, 2 weeks. So why are people buying them by the dozen? A six month supply? Will the pumps still be empty in 6 months? Of course not - they will be back to normal within a week or so.

Over the past few years, the tax on fuel has risen considerably more than the rate of inflation. As the tax is based on a percentage, when the cost of the basic fuel rises, so does the tax take. This is certainly iniquitous. Another iniquity is that the tax can be split into two parts - excise duty and VAT. First the excise duty is applied, and then VAT is levied on the new total. So we are paying a tax on a tax, with income that has been previously taxed. A triple whammy!

OK, so none of us enjoy paying tax. Protest about the high cost of fuel, compared with the rest of Europe moved into action, when farmers and small hauliers blockaded fuel depots. Within a few days, most of the petrol stations in Britain were dry. Dry, because the great British public made them that way. Dry, because people who had never put more than £5.00 worth of petrol in their tank, queued for hours to fill their tank to the brim, and then try to fill cans with more fuel. Panic had set in, and even now, when the situation is getting back to normal, the mob follow tankers to their destination and then wait in line to empty the tanks.

So was it the government's fault? Should Tony Blair take the blame? Not all of it. It must be shared equally between our featherbedded farmers, our inefficient haulage business, the greedy oil companies and the government. Let's look at the government first. They were taken by surprise by the speed of the crisis, and were seen to be powerless in its face. This does not fit well with the image of firm government that the great British mob likes, and so their rating in the polls is now at an all time low - 20+ percentage points lead over the Conservatives disappeared in a couple of days. How fickle! Unfortunately, the MPs who form our government, whichever party is in power, are so removed from the realities of everyday life, that it is not surprising they could not see the trouble that was brewing. They travel in luxury, using public funds to fuel their lifestyle. They never have to bother with filling tanks with fuel - they have men to do that, and their own private supplies. So they are not really to blame. They show more and more the sham that modern day democracy has become. The government may change, but the machine still continues. If the Conservatives were in power, they would not have behaved any differently.

So what about the self-employed? Certainly the farmers have a case. They now pay 3.3p per litre in tax for their agricultural fuel, as opposed to 65p or more for the rest of industry. So they obviously have a serious grievance. Farming, especially meat farming is facing a crisis. People are going bankrupt, but not because of high fuel costs. The hauliers also have a case. Their fuel costs have gone through the roof. And it is obvious that as the government takes most of the cost of their fuel in tax, it has to be the government's fault. Or so they reasoned.

The oil companies were happy. They get the benefit of higher oil prices at their extraction sites, and by clever accounting, were able to up the price at their outlets, as each of their divisions had to make a profit. It was in their interest to give the government a bit of a bloody nose. Big business usually ignores pickets. This time it did not. Then in a spirit of unbridled cynicism, some companies actually announced a price rise at the time the petrol stations were beginning to open again. Maybe to recoup some of the lost profit that they did not make when they were closed!

So, in a way everyone is to blame for the present crisis. And thereby hangs a tale. We have moved our industry towards Just-in-Time delivery schedules. And that is very efficient, but give us 2 or 3 days of industrial inaction, and the whole theory breaks down. We have been shown a little taster of what is awaiting us in about 20 years or so when the oil begins to run out. And that is where the lessons should be learnt. Government, and the energy companies must start to research the future means of transport that are going to be available without oil. Ford, Chrysler, Renault, Peugeot, Toyota and all the other multi-national vehicle makers should pour their surpluses into developing engines that run on other fuels - hydrogen perhaps? Otherwise, the next time the crisis hits, it won't be over in a few days.

I've just returned from a holiday in Egypt, and I obviously went by airplane. It would be really sad that if something is not done to develop other forms of mass transport, our grandchildren will never be able to see the Pyramids. But then again, it is only in the last 30 years or so that it has been possible for the general public at large to do so. So maybe, in the full historical concept, the age of mass travel, mass private transportation is nothing but a temporary aberration.