Fuel Shortage Culprits NAMED

First the reports that there may be fuel shortages, then the sight of queuing at forecourts, then the shock front page frighteners, but only later the realisation that, as with everything else that fouls up in 2021 Britain, there must be a scapegoat. Someone must be responsible for fuel stations running dry, and the iron law of the establishment class means that that person, or those persons, cannot be the Government, or the press.

This is a total pack of lies ...

So who would like to point the finger? To no surprise at all, Grant “Spiv” Shapps, inexplicably elevated to Transport Secretary, was at the front of the queue. He blamed those panicking and queuing needlessly to top up, thus exonerating his press pals and their avalanche of panic headlines. Then he made a most unwise statement.

Shapps also blamed the truckers for “manufacturing” the crisis, thus ensuring that whenever alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and his coterie of rank ineptitude needs the goodwill of the road haulage industry in future, it is an odds-on certainty that there won’t be any. And Shapps wasn’t the only out-of-touch idiot.

... and this isn't far behind ...

The inmates of the Northcliffe House bunker, more specifically those working for the increasingly wayward Mail on Sunday, had invented a fall guy for the crisis, which means the person concerned would not be one of their number, nor a Tory Brexiteer.

And so it came to pass that the MoS screamed yesterday “HGV BOSS ACCUSED OVER LEAK BEHIND FUEL PANIC … Ministers point finger at ex-BBC man who is a diehard Remainer”. HOUSE! BINGO!! The Beeb and the Remainers Done It!!! Sadly, this is, as with the Shapps spiel, total crap. So let’s look at what actually happened.

... but the real culprits are the Tories ...

Last Thursday, BP put out this statement: “We are experiencing fuel supply issues at some of our retail sites in the UK and unfortunately have therefore seen a handful of sites temporarily close due to a lack of both unleaded and diesel grades. These have been caused by delays in the supply chain, which has been impacted by industry-wide driver shortages across the UK and we are working hard to address this issue”.

How many sites? As Sky News has reported, “The energy giant said tens of forecourts in its 1,200-strong network were experiencing shortages”. Apparently it was around 35 sites. Also, “Esso said a few of its sites were affected. Tesco said two of the 500 petrol stations it operates were currently affected”. There was not so much of a problem.

... and their pals in the press

That did not prevent the screaming headlines, with the Murdoch Sun howling “WE’RE RUNNING ON EMPTY” last Friday, and the Mail mining the same seam of blind panic. By Saturday morning, the queues had built up and so the press reinforced their message, making the problem that they had caused immeasurably worse. And so it went on.

Fuel stations ran out, when they need not have done so. As some forecourts ran out, the panic spread, and queues lengthened at those still open. Only then did the press realise what it had done, and moved to dump on someone else. The Government, whose ineptitude had already caused an HGV driver shortage, dumped away too. But neither can escape their part in this shambles, although they won’t be the ones that suffer.

Our Establishment class fouls it up for everyone else. No change there, then.

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