| |
Huge crowds miss petrol protests
Hundreds of thousands of people across the UK failed to put in an appearance at filling stations, oil refineries and terminals today to protest the high cost of petrol.
Police estimated the lack of protestors outside an oil refinery in Jarrow, south Tyneside, as between eighty and a hundred thousand, and there was a similar lack of a huge crowd outside an oil terminal on the south bank of the Humber, where police in riot gear had been waiting all night.
However, police dealt with sporadic outbursts across the country. In Bootle officers were called to quell a hostile crowd of one near a petrol station where a lone protestor was threatening to throw his fish and chip wrapper onto the ground, rather than put it in the bin provided, unless the government cut the tax on petrol immediately. The incident ended peacefully and no arrests were made. However, a passer-by who stopped to watch the action was given an on-the-spot fine of £50 for being rude to one of the police officers.
In Grimsby a pensioner identified as Brenda Shuttleworth climbed to the top of the dock tower and refused to come down until the government acted. It later turned out she had misunderstood, or misheard, the call for a protest and was actually demonstrating against the high cost of pet food. Police let her off with a warning and a tin of Kitekat.
A spokesman for the People's Fuel Lobby, which had called a for the day of national protest against rising fuel prices, expressed his disappointment with the turnout, but said that although the battle may have been lost, the war would go on. He was promptly arrested under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act.
Gregory T. Mullet, leader of the British Apathy Party, called the lack of protest a resounding success. "This reinforces our view that apathy continues to grow in Britain," he said, "and it makes me even more confident that, if we can be bothered, we can win the next general election."
Douglas Ramsbottom of the AA said that it was actually more likely that people stayed at home simply because they couldn't afford the petrol to travel to the demonstration sites.
In somewhat related news, a spokesman for Sir Richard Branson said there is no truth to a rumour that, following its success with cheap wine in screw-top bottles, Virgin is to begin marketing cheap petrol in the same format.
Log in to read/write comments on this article
Hey, look at this!
|
|
