British Army training to deliver petrol in case of strike action - Polidicks

[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17502973[/url] [quote=BBC News][b]Army drivers are being trained to deliver fuel to petrol stations in case of a possible strike by tanker drivers.[/b] The Unite union is balloting on industrial action, saying there have been "unrelenting attacks" on drivers' terms and conditions. Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the government had "learnt the lessons" of the past and stood "ready to act" in case of a walkout. The vote closes on Monday and any agreed strike could be held next month. This means any industrial action could possibly be over the Easter weekend. The 2,000 drivers being balloted account for 90% of those supplying petrol to UK forecourts. Ministers say the training of army drivers will begin next week as part of contingency plans being drawn up to avoid major disruption to fuel supplies. [b]Call for agreement[/b] Mr Maude said the government had learnt lessons from the fuel blockades of 2000 - which caused chaos and almost brought the country to a standstill. "We are calling on the trade union Unite and the employers involved to work together to reach an agreement that will avert industrial action," he said. "Widespread strike action affecting fuel supply at our supermarkets, garages and airports could cause disruption across the country. "The general public should not and must not suffer from this dispute, and strike action is manifestly not the answer. "Although we are pushing for an agreement, we have learnt the lessons of the past and stand ready to act to minimise disruption to motorists, to industry and, in particular, to our emergency services, in the event of a strike." The Petrol Retailers' Association represents around 5,500 forecourts and its chairman, Brian Madderson, said he did not think the government was prepared for a strike. He told the BBC: "We have had no word from the Department of Energy and Climate Change whatsoever. "So we have not been asking our members to keep their stocks at a high level. "We just haven't heard anything from the Department of Energy at all."[/quote]

I wonder how high the prices will rise.

[QUOTE=Scrimp;35286879]I wonder how high the prices will rise.[/QUOTE] too fucking high

Lets look for ways to diminish the results of protests concerning some problem instead of addressing the said problem, don't we, Government?

[QUOTE=krakadict;35286933]too fucking high[/QUOTE] They're already way too high. The new fuel duty is gonna fuck everyone too. Where I live, we have a massive oil terminal, which is a meeting point for tankers in the North Sea. The oil gets stored here until a tanker takes it to be refined, yet we still have some of, if not the highest, fuel prices in the UK. I think we're about £1.45 per litre of Unleaded. Everyone on the mainland was shitting cause it went over £1.40.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;35286948]Lets look for ways to diminish the results of protests concerning some problem instead of addressing the said problem, don't we, Government?[/QUOTE] The government is not the employer and thus cannot do anything to prevent the strike other than what it has in calling for the employer to try and work it out. I is just making sure that the impact on the general public is minor.

The fuel prizes in Europe are too damn high.

[QUOTE=Awesomecaek;35286948]Lets look for ways to diminish the results of protests concerning some problem instead of addressing the said problem, don't we, Government?[/QUOTE] It's easy to see it like that, but they don't have direct control over this situations and they want to prevent chaos. I am sure they are also working on political solutions.

The sad fact is that fuel will never drop to a reasonable price again. Yes, George Osborne may drop a few pennies from fuel duty but what difference will that make? Fuel will still be nearly £1.50 again in the next few months. I understand the government need the taxes to close the deficit gap but the motorists have been targetted way too much. Fuel duty is a tax upon a tax as fuel is taxed by both VAT and fuel duty, accounting for 60% of the cost. Then you have yearly road tax which keeps going up and up then there's now talk about charging for the use of some roads, all of which are unavoidable charges and taking little of what's left of our money. The worst thing is, we all moan about it, me included but it will never change and there's nothing we can do about it.

Wow, state scabs. That's dirty.

Lets cut the armed forces to pieces OH looks like we need them again! Roll on electric cars it would seem, I don't really see petrol prices dropping much :(

[QUOTE=dcalde78;35287054]They're already way too high. The new fuel duty is gonna fuck everyone too. Where I live, we have a massive oil terminal, which is a meeting point for tankers in the North Sea. The oil gets stored here until a tanker takes it to be refined, yet we still have some of, if not the highest, fuel prices in the UK. I think we're about £1.45 per litre of Unleaded. Everyone on the mainland was shitting cause it went over £1.40.[/QUOTE] Jesus fucking christ, you guys are nearly paying 7 dollars per gallon of gas?!

[QUOTE=Matriax;35287754]Lets cut the armed forces to pieces OH looks like we need them again! Roll on electric cars it would seem, I don't really see petrol prices dropping much :([/QUOTE] Yeah they cut a lot of convenient things unfortunately. At this point I'm considering just getting my driving license and then waiting however long it takes for electric cars to start coming in because I don't want to pay half my wage to keep a petrol car running.

If I get a licence I will go for a bike, it's far cheaper in the long run than driving a car. £20 would keep me fueled for a week. It would be at least £60 for a car for the same distance.

[QUOTE=Jetblack357;35288246]Jesus fucking christ, you guys are nearly paying 7 dollars per gallon of gas?![/QUOTE] Actually that's about 10usd a gallon

[QUOTE=Jetblack357;35288246]Jesus fucking christ, you guys are nearly paying 7 dollars per gallon of gas?![/QUOTE] There's a reason they drive such tiny little hatchbacks that have no power.

[QUOTE=joe588;35288718]Actually that's about 10usd a gallon[/QUOTE] And we're complaining about 4.something per gallon.

Got rid of my car, started cycling to work, saving so much money and time not waiting in traffic, also a lot fitter and happier for it.

So glad my bike doesn't cost much to run.

I'm my town petrol is 1.43 at the moment but go to a garage out of town and it can drop as low as 1.38... Sometimes I think it comes down to the retailers / petrol stations but something needs to be done. Or busses need to be improved a lot, local bus here takes over an hour to get into a city because it goes through small villages