British fuel price campaign follows protests in Europe

LONDON (CNN) - The campaign for a boycott of petrol stations in Britain comes just weeks after motorists in Spain took to the streets to vent their anger over spiraling fuel costs.

Truck drivers and farmers marched through Madrid in June demanding a cut in fuel taxes. Petrol prices there have increased by almost 90 percent in 18 months and some service station proprietors have threatened to close their businesses for a day a month until the government acts.

But oil companies and retailers claim similar protests aimed at pressuring governments and the oil industry to relieve fuel costs for motorists, such as a three-day boycott in parts of Europe in April, have met with little success, with sales remaining largely unaffected.

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BP spokeswoman Barbara Peen said the company will not be taking any action in preparation for Britain's August 1 protest. "The consumers are being urged to defer buying their petrol, they're not stopping their purchases," she said.

The organizer of Britain's "Dump the Pump" day, Stephen Campbell, concedes: "It is a symbolic protest. Of course people will fill their cars up the day before and the day after because we all use them, but if it makes the government sit up and take notice we will have achieved our aims."

The British Automobile Association, a persistent campaigner for lower fuel costs, believes such action is pointless. "Perhaps there is a psychological effect," said spokesman Michael Johnson, "but on a practical level, it's not going to do a thing."

The boycotts in Europe stem from similar action in the United States and Australasia.

A "Gas Out" campaign in 1999, urging Americans and Canadians to put off their petrol purchases for a day, formed the beginning of the latest series of consumer petrol strikes.

It generated a keen following on the Internet and won the support of some consumer groups. An anonymous chain e-mail extended the idea to Australia, New Zealand, Asia and South Africa before reaching countries in Europe.

In South America, Bolivian roads were brought to a standstill in early July as truck and bus drivers vented their frustration at spiraling costs. Despite President Hugo Banzer's promise to freeze prices for a year, police were required to break up the roadblocks.

University students and city workers in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta appealed for relief from rising fuel costs in street demonstrations in April.

European fuel prices even higher than those in U.S.
March 13, 2000

BP Company
The Automobile Association UK
Dump the Pump campaign

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