Support for UK fuel protest dwindles

Fears of another fuel protest have sparked panic buying of petrol in Britain

LONDON, England -- British fuel protesters are staging a go-slow truck convoy to the capital -- but with none of the huge support that brought the country to a virtual standstill in September.

Just 20 lorries and a dozen tractors set off from a transport stop outside Newcastle in northern England -- a fraction of the hundreds of vehicles that had been predicted by leaders of the campaign for lower duty on petrol and diesel.

Scotland Yard police headquarters said the motorcade would be stopped when it reached the M25 motorway circling the capital.

Police have set up an exclusion zone around London to prevent the convoy from entering the city centre and have warned that drivers who risk public safety by causing obstruction on the 450 km (280-mile) drive to the capital will be prosecuted.

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Government concessions this week on fuel and motoring costs undermined the protest, designed as a repeat of the successful blockades of oil refineries by thousands of truckers and farmers two months ago.

But the freeze on duties for petrol and diesel and small cuts in the tax on low-sulphur fuel, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown in his pre-Budget speech, were not enough to dissuade some lorry drivers from taking part on Friday.

"Our backs are up against the wall. We want Brown to sit up and listen to what we said all along which is lower fuel duties and parity with Europe," People's Fuel Lobby protest leader John Coxon said.

But the protest is facing dissension within its own ranks, with one of the key figures in the original fuel duty demonstrations calling for the action to be called off.

North Wales farmer Brynle Williams said he feared the convoy and accompanying protests would prove counter-productive, costing the protesters' public sympathy and support.

"A lot of doors have been opened this past week, an awful lot of doors. These doors have been closed to us before, now we have the opportunity of meeting with all these various ministers to thrash this out over a table.

"I would like to see the convoy stop now, and hopefully the drivers would go home and then they would set about their politicians, lobbying."

His views were backed by Roger King of the Road Haulage Association who said: "If they (the protesters) think the government is going to suddenly leap out of the corner in the next 48-hours and announce further concessions, we don't see the point of it."

He welcomed measures announced by the Chancellor in the British parliament on Wednesday.

Protesters were met by counter-demonstrations from environmental groups who argue that cheaper fuel will lead to more people using their cars and increased global warming.

"Low fuel taxes will make it hard to fight global warming," said Dave Wood of the Green Party.

Environmental group Greenpeace is holding a copycat demonstration against hauliers and farmers, handing out leaflets at various stops.

Greenpeace campaigner Rob Gueterbock, added: "Wherever they are, we'll go as well.

"We're going to talk to the protesters and make the environmental case and show them there are alternatives to oil-based fuels."

He added 10 activists would hand out information to the fuel protesters at every stop.

Hauliers are planning to stop at York, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, and Milton Keynes, arriving in London next Tuesday.

Gueterbock made a connection between the recent floods that have caused havoc in Britain and worsening global warming.

Severe flooding around York has forced the police to ban the convoy from the city's centre and they have also threatened arrests if the lorries clog main routes.

A handful of police were waiting at the start of the convoy, at Birtley transport stop on the A1 outside Newcastle in northern England.

Police leaflets handed out to lorry drivers said: "Any driver that cannot maintain normal road speed will be safely removed. Failure to comply will make drivers liable to prosecution."

Gordon Brown's concessions were not enough for some fuel protesters

People's Fuel Lobby chairman David Handley said he and his colleagues, who are demanding a big cut in taxes on petrol and diesel by November 13, have a democratic right to protest.

"Is this is a democratic country or is this now turning into a police state?" he asked.

Fuel protester David Neave added: "The police are doing as they have been told by the government. They are just trying to stop the peaceful protest."

Britain's National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations said its members would back the fuel protesters by staging disruptive action at 19 fishing ports on November 14.

"Many fishing vessels are not viable at this level of fuel price. Some are already tied up because their crews cannot afford to go to sea," it said in a statement carried by Lloyds shipping service.

Prime Minister Tony Blair argues that any surplus government money is better spent on education, health and other public services than on cutting fuel taxes.

Reuters contributed to this report.

UK freezes fuel duties
November 8, 2000
UK hauliers warned blockades 'could cost lives'
November 2, 2000
European Commission mulls action over fuel protests
October 4, 2000
Fuel protests widen across Britain
September 10, 2000

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