page_title: Fuel protests in the United Kingdom
section_title: Timeline and effects
hierarchical_section_title: Fuel protests in the United Kingdom / 2000 / Timeline and effects
caption_attribution_description: English: Ham Hill Filling Station. This picture was taken during the fuel crisis of September 2000, when lorry drivers blocked key petrol supplies in protest about high petrol prices.
context_page_description: The fuel protests in the United Kingdom were a series of campaigns held because of the rising petrol and diesel fuel prices for road vehicle use. There have been three notable campaigns amongst many other protests in the 21st century. The first major protest in 2000 was primarily led by independent lorry owner-operators. One group of lorry owner-operators from the South East of England formed a protest group called "TransAction" that protested at oil refineries and fuel depots in Essex. Protests and blockades of oil facilities caused widespread disruption to the supply of petroleum products. The aim of the protests was to secure a reduction in the fuel duty rate on petrol and diesel, which the government refused to enact. After the protest ended, the government did announce a freeze on fuel duties, and promised changes would be made to the way that goods vehicles were taxed, which would include the taxing of foreign vehicles operating on British roads.
  Subsequent protests have not had as significant an impact but did result in panic buying in 2005 and again in 2007.
context_section_description: In 1999, lorry drivers had undertaken protests in London against rising fuel prices and announced their intentions for a nationwide campaign.  The Conservative Party organised a day of protest on 29 July 2000 to draw attention to how fuel prices had increased under Labour, visiting town centres with petitions and distributing leaflets. The Boycott the Pumps campaign, also referred to as Dump the Pumps, was organised for 1 August 2000, with motorists being urged not to visit petrol stations on that day.  Support for the day was reported to be patchy, with forecourts in the North-West being hit the hardest, some reporting a 50% drop in business.
  On 8 September 2000, the Stanlow Refinery near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire was blockaded by Farmers for Action, led by David Handley. Over the next few days, pickets were reported at Milford Haven and an oil terminal at Avonmouth causing some petrol stations to run out of supplies. On 8 September 2000, fuel protesters blockaded several facilities for a limited period and disrupted fuel supplies to Yorkshire, North West England, and the Scottish Borders and demanding that the government reduce fuel taxes.  Some of the protesters called for a reduction of between 15 and 26 pence per litre in duties.
  The protests spread so that on 10 September 2000 they included facilities at the Manchester Fuels Terminal, Kingsbury Oil Terminal, the largest inland oil terminal, and at Cardiff Docks. Panic buying of petrol began to close some petrol stations as motorists queued for fuel which was beginning to be rationed and reports of garages increasing their prices substantially. Rolling roadblocks were also reported in North East England on the A1 and A55 roads. On 11 September 2000, the government obtained an Order in Council which was authorised by the Privy Council and the Queen to take emergency powers under the Energy Act 1976 to ensure delivery of fuel to essential services. By now six of the nine refineries and four oil distribution depots were subject to protests.
  The campaign is against the government, it's a government taxation issue - it [the government] is not addressing what the protesters want.
  — Texaco, 
  By Tuesday 12 September 2000, 3,000 petrol stations were reported to be closed due to a lack of fuel.  There were also reports that there would be no fuel left within 48 hours. Tony Blair, the Prime Minister put the oil companies under pressure to resume deliveries. BP said that they would resume deliveries if police escorts were given to the tankers. Tony Blair had been in contact with the oil companies during the day and announced that supplies would be back to normal within 24 hours, with the oil companies having been ordered under the government's powers to commence deliveries to the emergency services. At the same time BBC News reported that the government's COBRA committee had drawn up plans to deal with the crisis, including using the military to assist in moving supplies and restricting the sale of fuel. South West Trains were reported to be reducing some of their services to preserve fuel supplies. Deliberately slow-moving convoys of lorries caused traffic jams on the M1 and M5 motorways.
  On 13 September 2000 the government announced that 5% of normal fuel deliveries were made, however other reports indicated that only 3.8% amounting to 5,000,000 litres (1,100,000 imp gal; 1,300,000 US gal) compared with a normal daily sale of 131,000,000 litres (29,000,000 imp gal; 35,000,000 US gal). In Scotland only very limited supplies were being delivered for emergency use only. Three-quarters of petrol stations were reported to be without fuel. Some NHS trusts cancelled non-essential operations due to staff difficulties in reaching work and ambulances were only able to answer emergency calls in most parts of the UK. The National Blood Service reported that it was coping and blood supplies to hospitals were not under threat but said that there "were some significant problems in some parts of the country".  The government placed the National Health Service (NHS) on red alert. Supermarket
caption: Ham Hill petrol station, which had run out of fuel.
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