By
The Associated Press
LONDON - From the remote Scottish highlands to the shadow of Big Ben, gasoline pumps were running dry yesterday all over Britain - and tempers were running high. Protesters furious over high prices and high taxes blockaded fuel depots, and the shortages set off panic buying.
The sharp reaction by British truckers, taxi drivers and others heightened a public outcry that has snarled traffic across Europe, with blockades in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany.
Prime Minister Tony Blair reassured the nation yesterday evening the fuel supply would be "on the way back to normal" in 24 hours, with police ready to break up blockades and escort gasoline trucks out of refineries. Trucks began departing depots after his remarks.
The reassurances came after the public and the press channeled much of their rage at the Blair government for not easing gasoline taxes in the face of oil prices, which have soared to $35 a barrel, the highest in years. Taxes account for 74 percent of the cost of gasoline in Britain, the highest in Europe at $4.31 per gallon, a price far higher than in the United States.
"Blair snubs fuel campaign ... but it doesn't affect him, does it?" the mass circulation Daily Mirror proclaimed on its front page yesterday - under a photo it said showed the prime minister speeding in his chauffeur-driven Jaguar past a line of automobiles waiting at a filling station.
Hospitals and ambulances services reported delays, the Royal Post Office warned its deliveries were "seriously threatened," one undertaker said he would be unable to transport corpses, and British Midland and Britannia airlines told pilots to refuel abroad.
Protesting truckers parked their rigs outside refineries across Britain, and oil companies by and large refused to send loaded fuel trucks onto the road, citing the danger of explosions.
"These guys are doing it to save their livelihoods," said Mike Salmon, of the British Road Haulage Association, representing truck drivers, farmers and others who claim that the double whammy of high oil prices and taxes could bankrupt them.
By today, 90 percent of the Total-Fina-Elf's service stations would run out of fuel, predicted a spokesman for the oil company. Other companies cited similar conditions.
"Whatever the strength of the feeling there can be no excuse whatever for this type of action, which is hurting our people, businesses and emergency services severely," Blair told reporters at his official residence at 10 Downing St.
Elsewhere in Europe, many streets in downtown Brussels turned into giant sidewalks as commuters took alternatives to work, including mass transit, bicycles and trendy micro-scooters. The main freeway to Luxembourg was jammed near southeastern Arlon and the highway from Brussels to the northern French city of Lille was blocked on the border.
Blair refused to follow the lead of France, which agreed to lower fuel prices. This angered British protesters, drew the support of environmental groups and provided a field day for the opposition Conservative Party.
Conservative lawmaker John Redwood called on Blair to ease the gasoline tax by five pence (eight cents), while shadow Chancellor Michael Portillo accused Blair of posturing.
"Mr. Blair is trying to sound like Winston Churchill when what he should be doing is sorting the country out," Portillo said.
The government's hard line won support from environmentalists.
"The climate crisis gives us no choice but to reduce our use of petrol and diesel - in fact prices need to rise further," said Stephen Tindale, a British spokesman for Greenpeace.
The fuel tax dispute goes to the heart of a British debate going back many years over the degree to which the government should allow market forces to control transport and environmental policies.
The Labor Cabinet and earlier Conservative governments have used gasoline and other taxes to build and maintain a nationwide highway system.
The decision this week by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise production by 800,000 barrels a day had no immediate impact in Europe. The price of Brent crude on London's International Petroleum Exchange fluctuated at just below $34 during trading yesterday, and some analysts worried that it might spike, jeopardizing the economic boom in the West.
