Pumping up the volume
Page 9
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Will thousands of members of the general public really start to boycott petrol pumps on r August to register their protest over high taxation or are we just dreaming?
True, the Dump the Pumps campaign that has suddenly caught the public's imagination may not be about foreign competition, essential user rebates or any of the many other problems that contribute so heavily to the less than level playing field UK hauliers find themselves on. But it is very much about the biggest single issue we all face: fuel taxation. And it's precisely because it keeps to this single issue that it is of such widespread appeal.
Its sudden success is also due to the medium it uses. A web site run by a computer science graduate from Sheffield has achieved almost overnight the kind of national coverage and public support that the combined might of the road transport industry has only been able to dream of, using more traditional methods. With its freely downloadable circulars, car stickers and leaflets and its short, shocking statistics on fuel pricing, this site has got a very clear message over to a very large number of people very quickly and made it easy to get involved. Industry bodies, take note.
You only need to look at Blair's recent splutterings to see that the government is now on the defensive. And if a good proportion of Britain's vast number of drivers start to boycott the forecourts, he'll have to do a lot more than just splutter.
Visit the site at www.boycott-thepumps.com. Then give the campaign all the support you can. It may not solve all the problems faced by British hauliers.. .but it's a damn good place to start.