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The time for asking why the dispute became critical so quickly has already arrived. Non-UK readers may find the following helpful and useful.
Was it serious?
Yes, desperately so.
The government was on the verge of calling in the army. The country was (and still is ) running out of food. Most people were becoming unable to get to work. Factories were starting to close. Hospital doctors could not get to work. Emergency services were beginning to fail.
What was the dispute about?
Britain's relatively high taxation on fuel.
It was a classic tax confrontation just like the Boston Tea Party or the recent French dispute; exactly the same cause, in principle, as the current demonstrations in Belgium, Holland and Germany.
Was this so unusual?
For Britain, Yes. It marks a complete break with the past in British politics. A completely new "political" pattern has emerged.
The main political parties, the trade unions, big and medium business plus environmentalists stand on one side.
On the other, a new power in the land led by independent lorry (truck) drivers and small farmers. Many come from the generally lower middle class group that emerged to own their own small businesses under the Thatcher era.
The militancy of the owner-drivers first surfaced last year. Some of the drivers that service the port at Felixstowe have been involved.
They have attracted extremist nationalist and right wing adherents too.
There has been widespread popular support for lower fuel prices.
Is there any logic to their case?
No, except perhaps that of pure self-interest and, in some cases, political power.
Why is the protest over?
The protesters realised that they would lose public support if they continued disrupting supplies.
Who is being blamed?
The protesters and public are blaming an otherwise quite popular government. The government is furious with the international oil companies for failing to respond adequately to their emergency regulations. There is some evidence that the oil companies colluded with the protestors, or at the very least were not very energetic in implementing government orders.
Does this lack of co-operation come as a surprise?
Yes, it had always been assumed that a democratic government could in a national emergency rely on the full co-operation of the multinationals. Britain is a very globally orientated economy. Multi-nationals have been welcome.
What are the lessons for shipping?
The container revolution, together with related transport and social change, has left western society extremely vulnerable to disruption by small groups. This has been well signalled even by this writer see Just in Time published eighteen months ago. The problem for any commentator has been to avoid provoking the very events they seek to avoid.
Government contingency plans are hopelessly out of date and based on a view of society as it was twenty years ago, not today. see Crisis Management
Britain has ignored warnings coming from conservative US sources that the multi-nationals were not to be trusted in situations involving national security. see A Question of Ownership and Privatisation.
What needs to be done?
Just in Time needs questioning and modifying to remove some of the risks.
Government and Port Authority emergency plans, worldwide, need reviewing and modifying in the light of these events.
The British government has to immediately substantiate its complaints against the multi-national oil companies - and investigate instituting criminal prosecutions against the executives involved. If they did disobey legitimate instructions during a serious national emergency, they acted in defiance of the law and placed the civil population in danger. If they did not, the government must take the blame for an inadequate response and instructions.
British ports, some of which are controlled by overseas companies and many of which have their own Police Forces, need to reassure everyone that they will respect and implement government instructions immediately and efficiently. Up to now, there has been no suggestion that they would fail to do so, but in view of the government's complaints against the oil companies, it would be wise for them to deal with the matter now.
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