A Mad, Mad Week

An extraordinary week and one that will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Firstly we had an utter fiasco over fuel supply and comments made by the government that led us all to rush to the pumps to fill our cars. This sudden surge in demand soon caused filling station supplies to deplete and we now have many standing empty awaiting their next delivery.
It is true in my view that the government have handled the situation very badly. Long before now, we have been aware of a likely dispute involving tanker drivers though this in itself hadn't caused the widespread panic we have witnessed over the last few days. The comments made by Francis Maude and others suggesting that we top-up and keep a reserve 'just in case' inevitably led many to rush to the pumps and cause an unsustainable peak in demand.
The government don't need me to criticise their handling of the situation, there are enough already doing so. But a little thought before public statements are made would go a long way in preventing this type of thing from happening.
The situation now is that demand is now decreasing and we should return to a normal level of 'supply and demand'. There are though areas such as mine here in South Holland that will suffer for a few more days to come as filling stations await much needed deliveries of fuel. Locally, all filling stations are without fuel and there is little or no information concerning others in neighbouring towns. This leads me to my main bugbear of the whole fiasco and this of either mis-information or zero information. We have on the one hand the advice spouted by government and on the other hand, a complete lack of information as to the status of filling stations across the country. A website displaying the status of fuel availability at stations across the country would be an ideal way of keeping motorists informed. It could also show prices and perhaps give details of queues or shortages. Well I think it's a good idea. Most of my frustration is born from not knowing.

This week has shown that there is a very fine line separating us from stability and chaos. Any level of disruption to the supply of fuel has a catastrophic effect. Wrongly chosen words by those who should be in control can and will cause panic. Being told not to panic will have the opposite effect. There is no extra capacity or any level of resilience or contingency built into our supply systems to cope with any abnormality. This week has shown that we are unprepared for any level of disruption. I dread to think what would happen if we were faced with a real emergency. I think the country would be brought to its knees.

Whatever comes out of this past week, the message should be that we must find an alternative to fossil fuels. The days of plentiful supply have gone. We cannot continue to be dependent on something we struggle to supply. There has to be an alternative. How we do this, I don't know but the science is out there and the technology exists. But of course it's all about money. I know that. Greed is what keeps us dependent on fossil fuels. Electric and hydrogen cell doesn't make money. The oil giants and governments will lose out. But alternative has to be found and made available if we're going to avoid another more major crippling and devastating repeat of the last few days.

A new entry for the Darwin Awards has to be the case of Diane Hall who thought it would be a good idea to decant petrol in her kitchen with a lit oven just feet away. There can only be one outcome of any such action and the woman concerned is now in hospital suffering 40% burns. Of course this tragic accident is being blamed on Francis Maude and some are even calling for his resignation. I say this was caused by a simple lack of common sense. We shouldn't need to be told not to play with highly flammable liquids.

A shock for British politics this week is the Bradford local election and the landslide win of George Galloway's Respect Party. There has of course been much speculation as to why the mainstream candidates were shunned, but many suggest that Bradford's large ethnic base and support for Galloway's anti-war  policies contributed greatly to the result. Personally, I am not a supporter of George Galloway but I do believe his return to parliament will be a lively addition to the usual debate.

So this week will be remembered by many though some will wish they could forget. We can only hope that those in charge take a serious look at what went wrong and why. But unless there is serious change, it will happen again.

I was going to write about Cornish pasties but I won't. It is too farcical. I'll leave you to look it up and make up your own minds.