Cost Of Petrol Up 50% Since Protests In 2000
September 10, 2010 at 11:06 am No comments Category: UncategorizedThis week marks a decade since the blockades at oil refineries that halted supplies to forecourts and led to panic buying across the country.
At the height of the crisis, only 5% of normal fuel deliveries were being made and 3,000 petrol stations closed completely.
The Institute of Directors estimated the cost to UK businesses was £1bn.
The protests were sparked by a group of farmers and hauliers in North Wales, who were concerned about the rising price of oil and the potential for an increase in duty at the impending budget.
Brynle Williams organised the blockade of the Stanlow Oil Refinery in Cheshire. Other groups followed suit with protests in Cardiff, Milford Haven and Kingsbury.
He said: “It really captured the strength of feeling and the passion of the general public.
“We wanted the government to take action to help people, especially in rural areas where driving is a necessity.”
Mr Williams added: “The next thing we knew, the media had picked up on what we were doing and the word spread. The rest is history.”
According to the AA, in September 2000 the average price of a litre of unleaded petrol was 81.7p. Today it costs 116.5p.
But despite small-scale protests in 2008, there has been no comparable direct action in the past 10 years.
Haulier Dai Owen told Sky News he has been in the business for 50 years, and is worse off now than ever.
He said: “After we protested, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown froze fuel duty for a while, and they reduced the vehicle excise on articulated lorries which helped us.
“Since then fuel prices have gone up by so much that it’s wiped out anything we ever gained.
“But the reason there aren’t the protests now, is we can’t afford to pack up and sit outside an oil refinery. Everything is so much tighter now.”
