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Strategies & Market Trends : VOLTAIRE'S PORCH-MODERATED -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: abstract who wrote (1108)	9/13/2000 9:10:00 PM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 65232

Magic Bus.....out of fuel 'All Hail Discordia.......' British Army on Standby As Fuel Crisis Deepens LONDON (Reuters) - The British army was on standby on Thursday to deliver petrol to emergency services hit by the country's deepening fuel crisis, the toughest test yet for Prime Minister Tony Blair in his three-year rule. Health services are on emergency footing, shop shelves in some towns are empty, schools faced closure and corpses were left unburied as chaos caused by protests over rising petrol prices spread from the forecourts of empty filling stations. A beleaguered Blair addressed the nation for the second time in 24 hours on Wednesday, saying truckers and farmers protesting over high petrol prices outside fuel depots and refineries from Scotland to the southeast were putting lives at risks. ``There is a real danger now for the national health service and other essential services,'' he said. ``Lives are at risk if these people cannot get to work.'' The Ministry of Defense said 80 trucks and 160 men were being deployed to military bases, from where they would be able deliver army oil reserves to public services as a last resort. ``These facilities are being deployed, but not yet employed,'' a ministry spokeswoman said. Less than 10 percent of normal fuel supplies are on the move, despite government pressure on oil companies to get their trucks rolling. Many tanker drivers are still reluctant to defy protestors demanding cuts in the state energy levy. The tax accounts for around three quarters of the price of petrol and contributes to Britain paying the highest fuel costs in Europe. The impact of the peaceful action by a small number of disgruntled farmers and hauliers has shocked Britain. The vast majority of filling stations have run dry. Traffic ground to a halt in central London and outside Manchester United's huge football stadium as lorries moving at snail-pace blocked lanes. HEALTH MINISTER URGES END TO PROTESTS Health Secretary Alan Milburn urged the protestors to stop, saying that health services were being hit hard. ``Staff are unable to get to work. Patients are unable to get to hospital. Operations are being canceled. Drugs, food and medical supplies are now running short,'' he said. One family doctor in rural central England said she would have to carry out patient visits on horseback. Retailer J Sainsbury Plc has written to the government to warn food shortages loomed within days. Television beamed pictures of empty bread shelves and store managers urging customers to refrain from panic buying. But in spite of growing chaos, the majority of Britons appear to back the protestors in their bid to cut fuel prices. A BBC opinion poll late on Wednesday showed that nearly four in five people were behind the action, a prime concern for Blair as he seeks to restore order. Popular support has been key to the success of the protests, now entering their seventh day. But there were signs that as public services were being disrupted, support may be dwindling. The Daily Mail mid-market newspaper called for an end to the rebellion. ``Enough is Enough,'' the Mirror tabloid wrote. Blair, who pledged on Tuesday that the situation would be ''on the way back to normal'' within 24 hours, was forced to admit a day later that it was a long way from it. He vowed again not to cave into pressure to cut fuel taxes and put the responsibility firmly on the shoulders of the oil companies to get their tankers rolling again. But outside the Woodford oil terminal in Manchester, resolve was still strong. ``Even if the fuel's going out, the people won't use it,'' said protest leader David Neave. ``The don't want it for 90 pence a liter. We're going to fight to the end.''