So what is Transaction 2007 planning for Saturday? All its web site says is “This action will be initiated at a refinery or storage depot somewhere near you.”
But the web site also contains a list of refineries asking for people who want to attend Purfleet, Fawley, Stanlow, Grangemouth, Avonmouth, Kingsbury , Immingham and Humberside, Milford Haven and Cardiff.
This does not mean that there will be demonstrations there; just that these places are named on the web site asking if anyone wants to attend these places. According to the Financial Times, a map of the 11 UK refineries was placed on the protesters web site, although I cannot find it. The Financial Times also reported a forum where. One wrote: “Let’s hit them hard with this one and bring the country to a standstill. Make it impossible for people to get to work.” This sort of comment just stupid.
The fact is that these protests will just make it less likely that fuel tax will be reduced. Gordon Brown would like nothing more than crippling protests that would alienate the public allow him to take the credit for lifting blockades.
We have a first class haulage and distribution industry, but the public often regard us as cowboys. Trying to blockade refineries just confirms that. Take your protest to Downing Street; don’t attempt to blockade fuel terminals