The ones that went before
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• The timing of the September protests was perfect. Thousands of British holidaymakers returned home at the end of August having experienced the joys of filling petrol tanks at the lower Continental prices while also enduring the misery of delays as French fishermen blockaded the ferries off Calais.
Once hauliers and farmers joined them, the French government caved in, and the concessions won became headline news around Europe. Many admired the French resolve— among them UK farmers and hauliers about to display some of their own British fighting spirit.
As blockades and rolling road protests hit the UK, luck showed its hand in the form of panic-buying motorists. Their action accelerated the strain on a vulnerable fuel distribution sys tern and swiftly paralysed the nation, The oil industry's decision not to attempt to break the protest was another stroke of good fortune. The Petrol Retailers Association alleged it was designed to exert pressure on the independent petrol retailers. it worked for the protesters.
The action was seen by the public as a fight that, if won, would benefit everybody but the taxman, and it became very popular. The scent of vie tory made the hardship seen more attractive than the NC price at the pumps. When tik government finally played it "health service grinding to halt" card, the fuel protester had won a moral victory. Th decision to suspend the block ade was another example a good timing. The point was we made. The protesters were th good guys and the call for a ta change was loud and clear.