Fuel panic: ministers urged to apologise for 'shambles on petrol'

[Owen]

Labour has called on the government to apologise for causing a "shambles on petrol", as ministers insisted their call for motorists to top up fuel tanks ahead of a possible tanker drivers' strike was just sensible planning. Sales of petrol and diesel have risen significantly after Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister advised drivers to consider filling up part-empty tanks and keeping a jerrycan of fuel in their garage following a vote organised by the Unite union for a possible strike by tanker drivers to try to improve health and safety standards in the industry.

The Retail Motor Industry Federation, which represents more than 5,500 petrol stations, said a survey of some members showed an 81% rise in petrol sales on Wednesday from the same day a week before, with an equivalent 43% increase in diesel sales. While ministers say they are primarily concerned with avoiding the sort of panic-buying and shortages that accompanied a blockade of petrol terminals in 2000 in protest at fuel duty levels, Labour says Maude's advice was over-hasty given that Unite would need to give seven days' notice before any stoppage. Fire officers warned that keeping a jerrycan of fuel in a garage posed a fire risk.

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[Snowball]

One driver summed things up perfectly when questioned at the roadside by a presenter on East Midlands news last night. The reply was, "He should have kept his trap shut". Their claim that it was sensible planning proved that they have no ideas regarding human nature. George Osbourne said it was the fault of the tanker drivers for threatening to go on strike. But some discussion is still in being and no date for a stoppage has yet been declared. There again, when has a government minister been wrong; and acknowledged it?