So that panic buying looks really silly now...
Discussion
No mention on PH that I can see of the fact talks appear to be going well and a strike looks likely to be averted. If they really wanted to go on strike they'd have done it by now and a deal is to be put to members next week. If this is indeed the case it makes the Government look even more stupid than they did a couple of weeks ago. Ministers are sticking to their back-up plans which is fair enough I suppose until the strike is formally called off but it does show how stupid they were to spread panic a couple of weeks ago.
Only in Britain.
Only in Britain.
Edited by martin84 on Saturday 14th April 16:13
Jasandjules said:
Exactly. I bet the Treasury is devastated at all that tax....
???????Are you suggesting people went out and used their cars more because there was a strike threat? All people have done is buy fuel a bit sooner than they otherwise would have done but they haven't paid any more tax for it. Miniscule cash flow advantage for the treasury barely worth a row of beans.
Ozzie Osmond said:
???????
Are you suggesting people went out and used their cars more because there was a strike threat? All people have done is buy fuel a bit sooner than they otherwise would have done but they haven't paid any more tax for it. Miniscule cash flow advantage for the treasury barely worth a row of beans.
But sooner than April makes a difference to the quarterly results, we've already had one quarter of negative growth, 2 would be technical recession. Cynic, me...? No....Are you suggesting people went out and used their cars more because there was a strike threat? All people have done is buy fuel a bit sooner than they otherwise would have done but they haven't paid any more tax for it. Miniscule cash flow advantage for the treasury barely worth a row of beans.
andy-xr said:
But sooner than April makes a difference to the quarterly results, we've already had one quarter of negative growth, 2 would be technical recession. Cynic, me...? No....
It makes very little difference. The extra £80million or how ever much it was may sound like a lot but when you consider the NHS costs £350million a day thats small potatoes in terms of quarterly public finances.If we're at the point where that extra fuel (and fuel tax) money actually can affect quarterly results to the stage of recession/not recession then essentially we're in recession, whether it has an official stamp on it or not. If it's that bad then all they've done is delay the bad news.
Edited by martin84 on Saturday 14th April 16:42
eybic said:
They still have to give 7 days notice to be able to strike so even if it were to happen we would have a warning.
The original ballot has now expired so a new ballot would have to take place and in the event of a yes vote there would be 7 days notice so if the talks do collapse we would have plenty of time to get organised.
CaptainSlow said:
and the prices haven't come back down to pre-panic levels yet.
Yes I've noticed that! Petrol stations must think we're all total idiots. I do expect a good 6-7p a litre drop over the coming weeks.I noticed today my local Morrisons puts their petrol up 2p as Texaco bring their diesel down 2p.
These stations aren't in collusion at all are they?!
If they were supermarkets or sold milk we'd do them for price fixing.
I think the "top up" advice was a smart move by the Gov't. Everyone went & topped up, there had to be 7 days notice of a strike, so good time to get the petrol stations refilled & if motorists just bought as normal (but had full tanks, not half full) then where is the problem? Fuel transferred from petrol station tanks to vehicle tanks....Simples! Neat bit of leverage to reduce the blackmail by the tanker drivers!
david.h said:
I think the "top up" advice was a smart move by the Gov't. Everyone went & topped up, there had to be 7 days notice of a strike, so good time to get the petrol stations refilled & if motorists just bought as normal (but had full tanks, not half full) then where is the problem? Fuel transferred from petrol station tanks to vehicle tanks....Simples! Neat bit of leverage to reduce the blackmail by the tanker drivers!
It was a horrifically bad move by a horribly incompetent waste of space of a Government.1) People didn't 'top up' they panic bought as much fuel as they could afford. Any idiot knows the moment you tell people to top up because there's a strike people will panic buy. I know this, you know this. So why does David Cameron not know this?
2) There were no strike dates set, so no need to promote panic
3) The retailers had no idea the Government were going to be so brainless so they had no opportunity to increase supplies for the droves of panic buyers, so stations ran dry and had only their standard deliveries to rely on despite the Government's advice increasing sales by 180%. The Government failing to notify retailers of their brainless advice was a horrific mistake.
4) Fuel transferred from stations to fuel tanks? When any possible strike was a fortnight away? So everyone will use up their panic bought fuel just in time for the strike. They won't be able to re-fuel because every station is empty due to the Government not telling retailers they're encouraging panic buying and - even if a strike was confirmed which it never was at any stage - we'd have had two solid weeks of people causing massive ques on roads as they wait 4 hours to put in the £6 they used driving home from the station last time. Government induced gridlock.
5) Once again, there was never a strike confirmed. No dates were set and no strike was confirmed. Third time i've mentioned it but its the most glaring part of the whole fiasco.
6) How is 7 days long enough to get stations refilled? Theres still plenty of stations who have failed to get re-filled which is a clear sign that 7 days would never be enough. It might've been if the Government had notified retailers of their intention to issue panic buying advice.
The Government later retracted their awful advice as they recognised it was terrible advice. They go 'we were trying to help people stockpile for the strike' when - for the fourth time - THERE WAS NO f
kING STRIKE!!!!!!!!The petrol retailers association blames the Government and so does every sensible person. Typical case of Tories wanting to attack Unions. Out of their spite for Unions, the Conservative's ensure we get the full effects of a strike despite no strike taking place.
Edited by martin84 on Saturday 14th April 18:47
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