Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude's stupid remarks about storing "jerry cans" of petrol at home in your garage, were seized upon by not just the tabloid media, but by tv and radio broadcasters like the BBC and Sky.
The equally out of touch Labour opposition (who were astonished that they managed to lose a "safe" seat to the extremist demagogue George Galloway at the Bradford West by-election on Thursday) spent most of the week feeding the tabloid press with their views about the irrelevant to most people, policy of charging VAT on hot pasties and on publishing a list which Conservative party political donors had had private dinner at Prime Minister David Cameron's home.
Labour in turn had to reveal that that Len McCluskey, the boss of the Unite Union, which has paid the Labour party at least £5 million, has had a private meetings or dinner with Labour leader Ed Miliband on 8 occasions since the General Election. Was the tanker drivers dispute discussed during those private meetings ?
The individual members of the general public cannot be blamed choosing to purchase more petrol or diesel than they have done historically at this time of year, especially given the massive media hype and propaganda and apparent political dithering they have been subjected to.
The Unite trades union is partly to blame, for not making it clear to the dim witted, short attention span mainstream media, exactly when they were proposing to take industrial action. Apparently this will not now be before or during the Easter Bank Holiday (a favourite target for UK and foreign transport related strikes) as many people jumped to the conclusion that it would be.
The Government is partly to blame for talking of "Preparedness", the training of Army drivers and the notorious "jerry cans", but again, not making it precisely clear when these measures were expected to be used.
It is not entirely the mainstream media or the internet social media's fault - they can spread rumours and misinformation rapidly, but they can also help to quash such rumours and panics, if they are used properly.
Will this self-inflicted Fuel Crisis be compounded by the planned rise in Fuel Duty (again, regardless of whether the world price of oil actually falls) this coming August ?
Petrol price surges to 130p a litre
PA
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Average petrol prices have passed the 130p a litre mark for the first time, the AA said today.Prices at the pumps have reached an average of 130.03p a litre - only 2p away from the £6 gallon.
Diesel is now averaging 135.44p a litre, the AA said.
It added that at the start of the year, petrol averaged 125.19p a litre before hitting 127.74p following the VAT rise on January 4. Diesel started at 129.30p before reaching 132.01 after the VAT increase.
A year ago, the pump price of petrol was 112.74p and diesel 113.79p. This means that filling up a typical 50-litre petrol tank now costs £8.65 more than a year ago. A two-car family is now paying £36.71 a month more for petrol than a year ago.
AA president Edmund King said: "Now that petrol has hit record highs at the pumps the Chancellor must abandon the proposed tax hike (next month) and seriously consider reducing fuel duty to stabilise prices.
[..]
Whatever happened to the Conservative party "Fair Fuel Stabiliser" consultation back in 2008 ?
Will Chancellor George Osborne actually implement these ideas in the forthcoming Budget ?
The useless Labour government has presided over an utterly inept "Energy Policy" and has so mismanaged the economy in general, that the UK is now being hit by fuel price increases in part due to the weakness of the £ pound against the $ dollar.
To add further insult, the Treasury has gone ahead with its increase in Fuel Duty, with more to come.
Remember that the actual tax on petrol is over 180%, if you ignore the weasel words which are used to separate VAT from the Fuel Duty tax
Tax is tax and the price of petrol at the refinery gate is a tiny fraction of the tax taken by the greedy Government.
If you get the chance to talk to prospective Parliamentary candidates, of whatever political party, then ask them in public, in front of as many mainstream media journalists as possible, what exactly they will do to reduce the burden of fuel prices, if they are elected.
Punish the politicians who are vague or ignorant or who can see nothing wrong in the current and predicted price of fuel, by not voting for them and by telling all your friends not to vote for them either.
.
Doing nothing politically in this General Election, by not voting, or by not questioning political parties and candidates on their Fuel / Energy price policies, is a recipe for financial ruin and misery for you and your family.
British diesel tax is highest in Europe
By Andrew Baxter and Martin Delgado
Last updated at 3:01 AM on 08th November 2009British motorists pay more tax on diesel than drivers in any other European Union country, according to Government figures which also reveal that we pay at least 12p a litre more than other nations.
Fuel duty and VAT account for 66 per cent of the pump price, says the Department of Energy and Climate Change. In some EU countries, these taxes make up only 42 per cent of the price.
The overall cost of diesel is also highest in the UK, with the average price of a litre 106.6p, of which 70.1p goes on tax and duty.
[...]
The Department of Energy report says the average price of a litre of diesel in the UK in September was 106.6p. This compares with 73.5p in Bulgaria, the lowest in the EU. Motorists in France pay on average 89.2p, of which 52.2p goes on tax. Germans pay 94p, of which 56.4p goes on tax. Figures for other EU states are: Denmark, 93.5p (52.4p tax); Ireland, 92.4p (52p); and Spain, 82.4p (41.3p).
Typically, the Mail on Sunday does not bother to quote the name of the report, or to provide an online URL link to it.
Various statistics on fuel prices are published by the misnamed Department of Energy and Climate Change:
Energy statistics: prices, where you "can download annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly statistics in Microsoft Excel 2000 format"
The Weekly Fuel Prices Table (.xls) is updated each Tuesday at 9.30 am.
[...]
Unleaded petrol is also at its highest price for 2009, according to the AA. The average at the end of October was 107.14p a litre, beating the previous high of 107.03p.
Remember that this scandalous taxation regime is with the temporary 15% VAT rate,
Things will be even worse when VAT goes back up to 17.5% (or even higher) in less than 2 months time
]]>Today (Sunday) and tomorrow, the useless Labour Minister Ed Miliband is hosting the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate meeting in London in preparation for the forthcoming Copenhagen conference i.e. to make most of the decisions before that conference even starts.
"The 17 major economies participating in the Major Economies Forum are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Denmark, in its capacity as the President of the December 2009 Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations have also been invited to participate in this dialogue."
See also the BBC UK looks to break climate logjam
Guess where all the lobbyists from the energy companies and other vested interests are ?
Are they in Ratcliffe-on-Soar or are they wining and dining and schmoozing the delegates, politicians, civil servants and their hangers on in London ?
Why are the climate camp activists not tracking these people in London, instead of fighting with the Police in Nottinghamshire ?
]]>Petrol prices set to rise by 5p a litre by September as wholesale costs soar
By Ray Massey
Last updated at 10:38 PM on 07th August 2009Petrol prices are set to soar by up to 3p a litre at the height of the holiday season this month because of rising wholesale costs, the AA warned today.
But motorists face a double whammy from September 1 when the cash-strapped Government imposes an additional and controversial 2p a litre tax rise at the pumps to swell depleted Treasury coffers - making a 5p a litre rise in total.
Rising prices of oil and an 8 per cent rise in the wholesale cost of fuel - both driven in part by speculators - are blamed for the initial 3p hike which will add £1.50 to the average fill-up.
Pump prices have already risen by a penny over the past fortnight and currently stand at 103.13p a litre for unleaded and 103.87 for diesel.
The 3p a litre price rises now in the pipeline will see fuel at the pumps in excess of 106p a litre.
But Government tax rises will add to the pain felt by Britain's 30 million motorists when Chancellor Alistair Darling imposes another 2p a litre tax hike on September 1, taking the price up to around 108p a litre.
[...]
So what exactly is the Minister Ed Miliband doing about these price rises, at the so called new Department of Energy and Climate Change ?
Precisely nothing to help ordinary people, as usual.
]]>Do not forget who is to blame for this deeply unpopular policy, when you get a chance to vote against Labour, at the 4th June European Parliament and Local Council Elections.
This former National Front slogan is being thrown back in Gordon's face, following his inept handling of the economy, and is being used as the rallying cry for the "unofficial" strikes and walkouts at oil refineries and possibly nuclear industry sites.
e.g. The Sunday Mirror reports: Gordon Brown slams wildcat strikes as more workers plan to walk out
Gordon Brown was personally in charge of failing to properly regulate the banking system, and he still seems to be micro managing and meddling in the economy, keeping his sock puppet of a Chancellor of the Exchequer Alastair Darling out of any media soundbites.
The industrial action has been concentrated amongst construction workers, protesting about the use of foreign labour, brought in perfectly legally by sub-contacting companies from other European Union countries like Italy or Portugal. When there was a shortage of such skilled labour, nobody complained, but now that Gordon Brown's policies have led to an economic recession, the inevitable pressure in the jobs market is on.
At the moment, the walkouts and demonstrations are "unofficial", and as such, reflect massive discontent with the trades union leaders who fund the Labour party, as well as with the Government and employers.
If the production workers, as well as the construction and maintenance workers, at these affected energy plants refuse to cross the picket lines or come out in sympathy, then the usual media hysteria will probably lead to panic buying and fuel shortages at petrol stations, again
Remember also that the Fuel Duty is set to rise, yet again, in April,
Already there is a media spin and disinformation campaign, with lots of stories explaining that the French multinational oil company Total, at the centre of the dispute is not actively discriminating illegally against British workers
Labour politicians are again giving the extremist xenophobic views of the BNP far more oxygen of publicity than they would otherwise have achieved, by their strenuous denials that there is any discrimination against British workers - trust in this Government is so low, after so much spin and disinformation, that many people now automatically assume that they must be lying.
The Labour Government appears to have no clue about what to do: the disgraced Cabinet Minister Lord Mandelson is making Norman Tebbit like "get on your bike" noises about the mobility of labour throughout the European Union, but his former trades union leader colleagues like the Alan Johnson are, in contrast, calling for some sort of protectionism.
The Times: More strikes loom in row over hiring foreign workers at low wages
Is it really just a coincidence that the classic comedy series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is being re-run at this particular time, on the ? Is it being aired now to remind people that British workers do benefit from the free movement of labour within the European Union (who are the commercial advertisers or sponsors for this re-run ?)
It is hard to say if online websites, which were devoted to industry specific news like www.ukwelder.com, have been taken by surprise by the depth of feeling on their discussion forums, or if they have been deliberately targeted by extremists and online trolls. It seems that they have decided to censor these comments, possibly as a result of legal or other pressure:
The UKWelder forum was established to provide a platform for the discussion of welding and welding related subjects. Of late a number of non welding posts have appeared that threaten the continued existence of this website. To ensure that this site stays online we must ask users to refrain from posting non welding topics.
There do still seem to be other online discussion forums about these strikes, for instance at The Bear Facts, who are trying to be non-political party aligned and non-racist, but who are clearly sending back to Gordon Brown his "British Jobs for British Workers" slogan.
This website may be ;less slightly less susceptible to censorship, as it is hosted outside of the United Kingdom in Denmark.
Apparently, even though the trades unions are not "officially" supporting these disputes, they are apparently, according to The Times meeting with the Government:
Thursday: Union delegation meets MPs and goes to Downing Street to talk about the industrial strife
Is this just sneaky evasion of the trades union dispute laws, which require secret ballots of members etc. before industrial action, and no secondary picketing etc., or are the union leaders again selling out the interests of their members to the Government and the big business employers ?
There seems to be talk of "a march on Parliament" to coincide with this meeting, but who exactly is organising this is a mystery - is it local trades union branch officials or someone else, in order to put pressure on the trades union leaders and Labour party politicians ?
Given the "political intelligence" gathering capabilities of the "snooper state", and by private investigators and infiltrators employed by big businesses, it would be wise for anyone organising, or even reporting on, such protests or strikes, to take some elementary precautions with their mobile phone and email communications and physical meetings: e.g. Hints and Tips for whistleblowers, journalists, bloggers and political activists
]]>This will to wipe out any saving on fuel from the temporary 2.5% reduction in VAT.
See today's Pre-Budget Report (.pdf)
[...]
Fuel duty7.38 It is the Government's policy that fuel duty rates should rise each year at least in line with inflation as the UK seeks to reduce polluting emissions and fund public services. However, in response to record peaks in fuel prices earlier this year, the Chancellor announced that the 2 pence per litre increase planned for April 2008 would be postponed.
7.39 As a result of falling oil prices, pump prices have now fallen by more than 20 pence
per litre from their July peaks. The Pre-Budget Report therefore announces that the 2 pence per litre increase in fuel duty planned for 2008 will now take place on 1 December 2008. However, as a result of the 2.5 per cent cut in VAT this December, the cost of petrol and diesel will fall for private motorists who should see no increase in the price they pay at the pump this year from this measure.7.40 The Pre-Budget Report also confirms that, as pre-announced in Budget 2008, main
fuel duties will further increase by:
- 1.84 pence per litre on 1 April 2009; and
- 0.5 pence per litre above indexation on 1 April 2010.
7.41 Duty rates for rebated oils will also rise in proportion to main road fuel duties
on these dates. The duty differential for compressed natural gas will be maintained until
2010-11 and the differential for liquefied petroleum gas will decrease by 1 pence per litre on these same dates.
VAT will only be reduced from 17.5% to 15% until the end of 2009.
Will the Chancellor immediately reduce Fuel Duty at the end of 2009 when VAT goes back up ?
Will he immediately reduce the level of Fuel Duty when, not if, the price of crude oil increases again ?
Surely this is a blow to the hard pressed Road Haulage and Farming industries ?
]]>The less nuclear power, the more we depend on imported gas and oil for electricity, the higher the domestic and transport fuel costs.
It is only five weeks ago that Gordon Brown was begging Middle Eastern oil sheikhs to pay for British nuclear power stations.
See Gordon Brown's pointless trip to Jeddah
Alistair Darling scraps 2p fuel duty rise
From Times Online
July 16, 2008
Alistair Darling scraps 2p fuel duty risePhilippe Naughton
Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, has bowed to massive public and political pressure and scrapped a 2p rise in fuel duty planned for this autumn.
The move emerged in a written answer to a parliamentary question and was confirmed in a Treasury statement shortly after official figures showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit was climbing at the fastest rate for more than 15 years.
Mr Darling announced in this year's Budget that he was deferring a long-scheduled 2p rise until October 1. With oil prices soaring - delivering a tax windfall to Government - motorists and hauliers have questioned both the need and the wisdom of a further rise in duty.
Today's move means that the planned rise has been deferred again, until at least April next year.
[...]
In its statement, the Treasury said that main road fuel duty rates would remain at 50.35p after October 1. "This is 17 per cent lower in real terms than in 1999," it said. "Consequential, planned increases in road fuel gases, biofuel duty rates and rebated oils rates will also be postponed."
[...]
The timing of this announcement is suspicious, and likely to have been influenced somewhat by the Labour government's poor opinion polls and desperation over the Glasgow East by-election in two weeks time.
The nonsense about being "lower in real terms than in 1999" would only be meaningful if none of the other taxes grabbed by the Treasury had gone up since then.
The BBC reports:
Tories propose fuel duty changes
Sunday, 6 July 2008 16:37 UK
The Conservatives are proposing changes to the way fuel duty is calculated which they say would let government "share the pain" of rising prices.Shadow chancellor George Osborne told the BBC the party was looking at plans to cut fuel duty when oil prices rise and increase it when prices fall.
If introduced last March, fuel would now be 5p a litre cheaper, he said.
The Treasury told the BBC the proposals were a gamble which could leave a £3bn hole in the public finances.
Fuel duty is due to rise in October but there has been speculation the increase will be delayed due to soaring oil prices.
[...]
But Mr Osborne told BBC One's Andrew Marr programme: "We are proposing a totally different way of doing fuel duty.
"Under the current system you wait for Gordon Brown to drop hints at select committees or Alistair Darling to come on this programme to make hints about what he may or may not do with the 2p.
"Not only is that an insult to families who want some clear direction from the government, but it is also extremely destabilising for the public finances."
Record oil price
He said the consultation process on a "fair fuel stabiliser" would begin on Sunday and conclude by the end of the year when the party would come up with a fully worked-out proposal. The policy is not yet a firm party pledge.
"What this would mean is that when the price of oil goes up, fuel duty comes down to help families, but the quid pro quo is that when the price of oil falls the duty goes up," said Mr Osborne.
"So government is sharing the pain of rising oil prices, but the government is also sharing the gain when oil prices fall."
[...]
How exactly would this work in practice ?
Presumably it is somewhere in between the current evil grasping Labour Government fuel tax regime, which, because of its fixed fuel duty plus periodic increases, plus VAT on top of that, grabs excessive taxes from the public as the price of crude oil rises, and a simpler fixed percentage tax which is automatically linked to the price of fuel at the refinery gate e.g. no Fuel Duty , but a VAT rate of 20% on fuel.
Is this is good idea ? How will they pay for any shortfall in public finances ? WiIl they make the tax collection system more or less complicated and bureaucratic ?
You can read the Conservative's Consultation Document:
A Fair Fuel Stabiliser: A consultation on the future of fuel taxation (.pdf)
[...]
Under a Fair Fuel Stabiliser, when fuel prices go up, fuel duty would fall. And when fuel prices go down, fuel duty would rise.
[...]
5.1 The closing date for responses to this consultation is 19 December 2008.
5.2 Responses should be sent to:
Fair Fuel Stabiliser Consultation
Office of the Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA5.3 Or by email to contact@georgeosborne.co.uk Please include the words 'Fair Fuel Stabiliser Consultation' in the subject.
5.4 Responses to this consultation will be used to inform our policy development
process.
Presumably, the relatively lengthy consultation period is designed to tempt the unpopular Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his hapless Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling, to try their usual NuLabour "political triangulation" trick of responding, to Tory taxation ideas, and then spinning the media, and pretending that they thought of it themselves (like the capital gains tax idea), before the next scheduled 2p per litre rise in Fuel Duty is confirmed or is abandoned in October.
Following yesterday's successful Transaction 2007 organised fuel protests in London by lorry drivers, The Times reports:
Brown pre-empts Darling with signal that fuel duty rise will not go ahead
From Times Online
July 3, 2008Philip Webster, Political Editor
Gordon Brown gave his strongest signal yet today that the Government will not go ahead with the planned 2p-a-litre increase in fuel duty due in the autumn.Giving evidence to the Commons Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister virtually pre-empted his Chancellor by saying that past increases had not been implemented.
"I think you will find that in most years since 2000 that the duty has actually been frozen," he said.
Mr Brown said any decision on fuel duty would be for Alistair Darling in his Pre-Budget Report in the autumn. He added however: "It is clearly a matter that will be looked at very, very carefully over the next few weeks."
It was the second day in a row that Mr Darling has found others making concessions for him.
Labour MPs admitted yesterday that they had been told by the whips that he would make changes in his controversial plan to charge higher excise duty on heavy polluting cars bought since 2002. The Treasury ministers gave no such guarantee in the debate but MPs believed the whips and the Government won the day. Only six Labour MPs voted against the Government, even though 50 had voiced their concerns.
[...]
The Prime Minister said that the Government would be bringing forward further measures to help low income families with their fuel bills.
"If we can take measures that will help people cut their energy bills by using energy more efficiently or finding a way that we can help them cut the consumption of energy we will do so," he said.
There is no technical barrier to Gordon Brown / Alistair Darling doing that right now, with the stroke of a pen, only the political and economic mess which they are responsible for.
]]>The Daily Mail is reporting that
Cabinet minister leads revolt over 2p fuel tax rise as lorry drivers plan biggest protest yet
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 10:44 AM on 01st July 2008A senior Cabinet minister is leading ministers in a revolt against the planned autumn rise in fuel tax.
Business Secretary John Hutton is reported to be demanding an immediate pledge that the 2p-a-litre rise will be cancelled.
The Rt. Hon. John Hutton MP, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform is such a bland NuLabour political nonentity, that the Daily Mail website article has the wrong photo. It is actually of Rt. Hon. John Denham MP, the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
Several other ministers have also urged Chancellor Alistair Darling to drop the tax increase before Parliament starts its summer holiday in three weeks, in order to prevent public anger spiralling over soaring prices at the pumps.
Labour MPs had already been demanding an immediate U-turn on plans to backdate new car taxes, that critics say will hit family motorists, and extra compensation for a million losers from the axing of the 10p tax band.
Mr Darling is standing firm against all three rebellions.
[...]
Will this protest, actually get through to the unpopular and incompetent Labour politicians who are clinging on to power in the Downing Street bunker ?
Protests at remote oil refineries, or even on the motorways, are all very well, but they do not have as much mainstream media impact as ones in Central London.
]]>]]>Kent Convoy: Two police motorcycles will be at the Black Prince Interchange from 0730hrs waiting to pick up the Kent Convoy to pilot onto the A40 elevated section. They are not there to escort the convoy but to provide information back to the Met. Police control room giving updates on numbers and timings etc. All drivers must be aware that they must comply with all Road Traffic legislation, speed limits, red lights etc. This convoy should approach the A40 via Vauxhall Bridge, Grosvenor Road, Chelsea Embkt, Finborough Road, Warwick Road, Holland Road & West Cross Route (A3220).
Similarly , at 07:30 two Police motorcycles will be at the Gateway Services (Scratchwood) Lorry Park (M1 southbound) to provide the same service to the Spalding convoy. This convoy should approach via M1, A406, Hangar Lane Gyratory System and A40. Please can the Convoy lead driver identify themselves in some way to the police motorcycles in order that they pick up the right trucks !! All other drivers are advised to approach the A40 from the west and on the approach to the Northern Roundabout to stay in the nearside lane. All vehicles involved in the protest will be facilitated into the parking area via the Northern Roundabout.
The Southern Convoy will be meeting at 06:30hrs at the Northbound M2 Medway Services.
The A40 flyover over the Northern Roundabout will be closed to ALL traffic.
Vehicles parked to the east of the A40 Offslip to Westbourne Terrace (two lane section) will be single parked on the hard shoulder. The outside lane must remain clear for emergency service vehicles. Vehicles parked to the west of this slip road will park against the central reservation and on the hard shoulder. The centre of the eastbound carriageway must be kept clear at all times. Officers will be posted to the A40 to facilitate the parking of the trucks. Do not attend the A40 any earlier than 1000hrs and drive with extreme caution whilst in the closed area. Vehicles will be allowed onto the A40 form up until 14.30hrs.
Groups of between 20 and 30 vehicles will be marshalled on the A40, starting from the Marylebone Road side of the flyover. From 10.30hrs, the first of these groups will be led en masse by a police motorcyclist via Old Marylebone Rd > Edgware Road > Marble Arch > Park Lane > Hyde Park Corner > Grosvenor Place > Lower Grosvenor Place > Bressenden Place > Vauxhall Bridge Road > Bessborough Gardens > Vauxhall Bridge > Albert Embankment > Lambeth Palace Road > Westminster Bridge > Victoria Embankment . There is a 40 tonne weight limit on Westminster Bridge. Any vehicles in excess of this weight will not be permitted to join the convoys. There is a 40 foot overall length LGV exclusion zone in force for general traffic in London. Vehicles taking part in the convoy will be exempt from this. During the procession, all traffic lights must be complied with unless otherwise directed by a police officer. All traffic lights and junctions will be covered by police from Hyde Park Corner onwards.
After a short delay to ease the traffic congestion caused the next group will be led through by police and so on until 1530hrs. Any vehicles still remaining on the A40 will then have to disperse from there. All vehicles will have left the A40 by 1600hrs.
If 'Fast Track Tractors' are in attendance being brought in by low loader trailer please ensure, that when forming up, sufficient room is left behind the low loader for the tractor to reverse off. During the procession, the low loader must be immediately in front of the tractor. At the end of the procession, the low loaders should stop in Victoria Embankment against the kerb to enable these vehicles to be loaded.
The use of horns is only permitted in accordance with Rule 112 of the Highway Code
Use only while your vehicle is moving and you need to warn other road users of your presence. Never sound your horn aggressively. You MUST NOT use your horn while stationary on the road when driving in a built-up area between the hours of 11.30 pm and 7.00 am except when another road user poses a danger.
Enforcement may be taken on misuse of horns by way of S97 or S99 of the Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986.
All participants will be responsible for ensuring their vehicles are 'London Emission Zone' compliant or make payment if necessary; and as they will be entering the Congestion Zone, for paying the fee.
Dispersal after the drive through will be facilitated by Police in the vicinity of Blackfriars Bridge.Routes North and West will be via upslip to Blackfriars Bridge > turn left Farringdon Road towards Kings Cross.
Routes South will be via Puddle Dock > turn left Queen Victoria Street > turn left Blackfriars Bridge towards Elephant & Castle.
Routes East will be via Upper Thames Street towards A12, A13 etc.
The lobby journalists were not impressed e.g. Sam Coates at The Times
Over the next 18 hours we will be spending 13 hours travelling so he can make a 10 minute speech - the bulk of which was released to the Sunday newspapers - which will allow Gordo to tell people he is 'doing something' about oil prices. We haven't even arrived and the Algerians have already issued the draft communique. Gordo's press briefing will apparently be before the conference has even started. And they've just shaved fours hours off the trip
What has this trip achieved ? Less than nothing - the price of crude oil went up afterwards !
According to The Guardian:
Demand, not speculation, at heart of oil shock, says Brown
[...]
In his speech, Brown offered a long-term deal whereby the oil-consuming nations would diversify energy supplies, moving into nuclear and renewables, and the oil-producing countries would increase production, as well as recycle some of their huge profits into western renewable technologies.
Is Gordon Brown really willing to let, say, the Iranian , or even the Saudi Arabian governments invest in, and therefore have access to British nuclear technology ?
Why not just give them nuclear weapons, with which they can threaten us, on credit ?
If the UK Government and the City of London cannot see the business case for investing in, say, nuclear power or wind turbines etc, then why do they think that the Saudi Arabians or others in OPEC would waste their money on such projects either ?
Who is going to be stupid enough to commit billions of pounds to risky projects which have not actually been specified in detail ? That may be how the NuLabour Government operates, but other countries are a lot more prudent with their money.
It all sounds like Gordon Brown's vague handwaving about clearing Third World Debt, which he used to get positive media coverage for himself - has all the promised money actually materialised ?
Brown has stated that oil producers have earned $3tn in extra profits from the latest oil shock. He also revealed Britain will host a follow-up summit in London, to build the shared analysis of what he described as the biggest problem of the world. The meeting will probably be held in October.
Nobody else agrees with Brown's analysis:
[...]
But Brown's analysis of the causes of record oil costs was at odds with the Opec president, Chakib Khelil, who reiterated his view opposing increased production, saying "the price is disconnected from fundamentals" of supply and demand.
"We believe that the market is in equilibrium. The price is disconnected from fundamentals. It is not a problem of supply."
The Indian finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, agreed, saying producers and consumers should "wrest control" of trading by agreeing to restrict prices.
"Surely demand and supply cannot explain what has happened over the last 12 months," he said. "Oil prices were $70 a barrel in August 2007 and how is it that they've doubled when there has been no dramatic change in demand?"
What exactly has Gordon Brown achieved with this junket to Jeddah, apart from embarrassing the United Kingdom in front of assorted foreign finance and oil ministers ?
When will Gordon Brown reduce the tax on fuel in the UK ?