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So who will blink first?

14th September 2000
Page 8
Page 8, 14th September 2000 — So who will blink first?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

In the battle of the hauliers versus the government there may well be no winners. On the one side there are truck operators pushed to the point of no return. On the other side is a Prime Minister who says: "We cannot and will not alter government policy by blockades—that's not the way to make policy in Britain." Of course Tony Blair would love to have another miners' strike. He'd love to be seen as being tougher than Maggie Thatcher. He won't be bullied—he's said so. But if the country grinds to a halt then we'll see what he's made of.

The targeting of oil refineries could well succeed where other methods of persuasion have failed— and we include in those the endless "Industry Forums" and "peaceful protests".

But while all hell broke loose we couldn't help noticing that two groups within the road transport industry were conspicuously quiet: namely those who spurned direct action, claiming instead that "jaw jaw was better than war war". Not to the blockaders it isn't. Nor to those larger operators who have already managed to negotiate their own fuel escalator into their rates. Presumably if the nation's small hauliers and farmers win concessions they'll be only too happy to share in the bounty.. .but that's a big "if'.

Whatever the eventual outcome of this week's action, at least one fact has emerged with devastating clarity. The UK's crippling cost of diesel is NOT the fault of OPEC. It's NOT the fault of road hauliers. It's the fault of a greedy government that can't bear to part with an annual i3obn revenue from fuel duty The only question is, just how hard is Tony prepared to fight for it?


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