Fuel shortages? Maybe. Fool shortages? No chance!

The UK Government has pulled off the remarkable trick of triggering panic buying of fuel, even though supplies are completely normal. UNITE, the union that represents a majority of tanker drivers, has been given a strike mandate by its members.  However, it has to give 7 days notice of any strike, and conciliation talks are set for this coming Monday in the hope of reaching a settlement.

No matter! The Government, from David Cameron on down, has offered a bewildering array of "advice", some of it actually illegal. Cameron says there's no need to panic buy, but maybe you should top up the tank if you happen to be passing a petrol station. One Cabinet Minister says fill up when you see your gas gauge reading half full.  Another says keep your tank two-thirds full. Worst of all, Francis Maude, the minister notionally in charge of emergency preparedness, suggests buying jerry cans and keeping a stash of fuel in your garage or home.  It was quickly pointed out that this is not only dangerous, but also illegal.  Not quickly enough, sad to say:  today we hear of a woman with burns over 40% of her body, caused by decanting petrol from one container to another in her kitchen. One hopes Mr Maude's conscience is troubling him.

This possible strike has been brewing for a very long time, and the government has regularly bragged that it has contingency plans in place. It would appear, based on the events of this week,  that the main "plan" is to pre-empt chaos that might be caused by a strike, by triggering chaos well ahead of time.

And in the last couple of hours, the government has announced its master-stroke. In response to requests from the industry, tanker drivers will be allowed to work 11 hours per day, rather than the usual limit of 9, in order to replenish supplies that have been drained by panic buying. So, having created the panic in the first place, the government is now going to allow the drivers to earn lots of nice juicy overtime pay to fix the problem. Should at least mean that they have plenty of money in the bank if they eventually do go on strike.