Forwarded Post. Subject: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops Posted By: Maher Shalalhashbaz (Registered User) Posted At: 9/14/00 11:57:13 am From IP: September 14 2000 BRITAIN © Panic buying of bread and other perishables began after supermarkets issued a warning of shortages by the weekend. These shelves in Bristol were cleared out by early afternoon Photograph: JOHN EVANS/REUTERS Blair sends for the troops BY PHILIP WEBSTER, POLITICAL EDITOR Petrol protest: Day 7 TROOPS were put on standby last night to intervene in the deepening fuel crisis as the health service went on emergency alert, supermarkets began rationing food and schools and businesses closed. In a dramatic move to put pressure on the oil companies to do more to get petrol out of the refineries, the Government deployed 80 Forces' oil lorries near hospitals and at other strategic points. They will deliver oil from the Forces' "considerable stocks" to essential services if Tony Blair's latest pleas to the petrol companies fail to bear fruit. The troops will not deliver oil from refineries. The Ministry of Defence said: "They are being deployed, not employed." The move came after Mr Blair admitted - exactly a day after predicting that the country would begin returning to normal within 24 hours - that Britain faced a national crisis that was putting lives and jobs at risk. As the number of tanker movements remained painfully low, he appealed directly to hauliers, farmers and taxi drivers to end their protests because "real damage is being done to real people . . . there is a real danger now for the NHS and other essential services. Lives are at risk". By far the biggest demonstration yesterday was outside the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland where 500 people set up pickets - far more than before Mr Blair spoke on Tuesday - and there were another 200 at Stanlow in Ellesmere Port. But police reported mere handfuls of protesters at other depots, so that a total of fewer than a thousand people were blocking the country's petrol supplies. Mr Blair indicated that 500 deliveries were made during the day - on a normal day there are more than 5,000 - but a survey by The Times suggested that the true figure was much lower. And both ministers and the industry admitted that even if the tankers started delivering at their usual rate, it could be three weeks before Britain gets back to normal. Mr Blair said that the idea that a picket at a refinery gate could determine whether hospitals or ambulance services or public transport qualified as essential services was an affront. Doctors and nurses needed fuel to get into work. In a notable softening of tone on the demand for lower fuel duties, Mr Blair and Gordon Brown insisted through the day that they would "listen" to the public, but Mr Blair said: "We will listen; we will not be intimidated." Grim-faced but calm, he said it was time the country told the protesters: "Look, whatever your views, this is not on. This is not right. It is not the way to do things." But opinion polls last night suggested that the demonstrators still had the backing of most of the public. In a telephone poll for Tonight with Trevor Macdonald, only 6 per cent of more than 700,000 callers approved of Mr Blair's handling of the crisis. The news that the health service was on "red alert" for the first time for 20 years - meaning that it has to draw up contingency plans to deal with emergencies only - was given in a statement from Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, after more hospitals cancelled non-urgent operations and some began running out of fresh food and supplies. High street chemists reported a drugs shortage and said: "People will die as a result." Some ambulance services received petrol, but others were maintaining emergency services only, and said that elderly people at home were at risk because GPs and nurses did not have petrol to visit them. Supermarkets meanwhile rationed bread, milk and sugar as the Sainsbury's chief executive wrote to Mr Blair to say that food would run out within days. All the big oil companies admitted that they had got out only a fraction of their usual deliveries. By late evening, Shell said it had made 100 deliveries, compared with more than 700 on a normal day, while Texaco said only 34 of its 957 filling stations had received any fuel. Elf had delivered to 30 instead of the normal 400. Petrol protest: Day 7 * Forces put on standby to provide fuel for essential services. * At least 375 tanker deliveries made; Mr Blair puts figure at 500. * Alan Milburn, the Health Secretary, puts the NHS on red alert. * Supermarkets start rationing food. * National Blood Authority is put on emergency alert. * Lorry convoy brings London and several motorways to a standstill. * Children given day off as schools close. * Thousands stay at home, unable to get to work. * Cycle shops report a massive increase in sales. * William Hague calls for immediate recall of Parliament. * Petrol sellers say problems could persist for three weeks. * Protesters pledge to withdraw from a Plymouth depot today. * Funerals may start being cancelled from tomorrow. * British National Party urges militants to infiltrate protests. LINK Fair use for educational/research purposes only! Replies [GVT] Blair sends for the troops Maher Shalalhashbaz 9/14/00 1:07:13 pm Re: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops Onebyone 9/14/00 12:04:13 pm Re: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops iona 9/14/00 12:22:04 pm Re: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops iona 9/14/00 1:03:14 pm Re: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops iona 9/14/00 1:07:13 pm Re: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops Dan Reilly 9/14/00 1:00:48 pm Re: [GVT] Blair sends for the troops A T Hagan 9/14/00 12:14:37 pm <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. 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