Zurdito
28th May 2008, 22:05
LONDON (Reuters) - Hundreds of truck drivers caused road chaos in central London on Tuesday in a protest to demand government help over rising fuel prices.
Labour Party MPs also put pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink planned fuel and road tax increases, prompting ministers to hint at a possible about-turn.
Truckers from across Britain converged on the capital in convoy, closing a busy artery and causing traffic backlogs. Similar protests took place in Wales, in a new headache for Brown whose leadership is under fire.
The drivers said fuel bills had risen by almost half in a year and demanded a rebate. French truckers threatened similar action.
Ministers, anxious after voters punished Labour in recent local elections, said they were listening to concerns.
There was no sign Brown would give in to the truck drivers but ministers said they would keep an "open mind" on a planned hike in vehicle excise duty that will hit families squeezed by rising fuel and food costs.
"We've made it clear we'll go ahead with the announcement we've made but we've also made it clear, and this is not contradictory, that we have an open mind in the future," environment minister Phil Woolas told BBC Television.
Woolas said a proposed two pence (4 cents) per litre rise in fuel tax, already postponed by six months to October, would be reviewed again in October as planned.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/motoringSummary/idUKNOA82167520080528
plus I found these words interesting from Gordon Brown, when a politician who has made a career out of rose tinted glasses is speaking this way, I think we may be at a tipping point, and public consciousness could soon follow:
Gordon Brown has warned that high oil prices are here to stay as Downing Street played down speculation over a U-turn on road and fuel taxes.
The Prime Minister said that while he wanted to help the "hardest hit" families, the problem of global demand outstripping supply was "long-term".
"Of course in the current situation we are trying to do things that will help those families who are hardest hit," Mr Brown said. "This is not just a national problem. It is a global problem of supply and demand, not just in the short term but the medium term and the long term."
http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/news/uk/2008/05/28/brown_high_oil_prices_here_to_stay
Labour Party MPs also put pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink planned fuel and road tax increases, prompting ministers to hint at a possible about-turn.
Truckers from across Britain converged on the capital in convoy, closing a busy artery and causing traffic backlogs. Similar protests took place in Wales, in a new headache for Brown whose leadership is under fire.
The drivers said fuel bills had risen by almost half in a year and demanded a rebate. French truckers threatened similar action.
Ministers, anxious after voters punished Labour in recent local elections, said they were listening to concerns.
There was no sign Brown would give in to the truck drivers but ministers said they would keep an "open mind" on a planned hike in vehicle excise duty that will hit families squeezed by rising fuel and food costs.
"We've made it clear we'll go ahead with the announcement we've made but we've also made it clear, and this is not contradictory, that we have an open mind in the future," environment minister Phil Woolas told BBC Television.
Woolas said a proposed two pence (4 cents) per litre rise in fuel tax, already postponed by six months to October, would be reviewed again in October as planned.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/motoringSummary/idUKNOA82167520080528
plus I found these words interesting from Gordon Brown, when a politician who has made a career out of rose tinted glasses is speaking this way, I think we may be at a tipping point, and public consciousness could soon follow:
Gordon Brown has warned that high oil prices are here to stay as Downing Street played down speculation over a U-turn on road and fuel taxes.
The Prime Minister said that while he wanted to help the "hardest hit" families, the problem of global demand outstripping supply was "long-term".
"Of course in the current situation we are trying to do things that will help those families who are hardest hit," Mr Brown said. "This is not just a national problem. It is a global problem of supply and demand, not just in the short term but the medium term and the long term."
http://latestnews.virginmedia.com/news/uk/2008/05/28/brown_high_oil_prices_here_to_stay