Fuel protests in the United Kingdom

The fuel protests in the United Kingdom were a series of campaigns held because of the cost of rising petrol and diesel fuel prices for road vehicle use. There have been three notable campaigns amongst many other protests in the 21st century. The first major protest in 2000 was primarily led by independent truck owner operators. One group of truck owner operators from the South East of England formed a protest group called "TransAction" that protested at oil refineries and fuel depots in Essex. Protests and blockades of oil facilities caused widespread disruption to the supply of petroleum products. The aim of the protests was to secure a reduction in the fuel duty rate on petrol and diesel, which the government refused to enact. After the protest ended, the government did announce a freeze on fuel duties, and promised changes would be made to the way that goods vehicles were taxed, which would include the taxing of foreign vehicles operating on British roads.

Subsequent protests have not had as significant an impact but did result in panic buying in 2005 and again in 2007. The 2007 fuel protests were put together by several members of the old "TransAction group" from the South of England, reforming as "TransAction 2007". The protests of this period were not widely supported nor did they cause the same disruption as those in previous years. The 2007 protest which took place at the latter end of the year, culminated in 200–300 trucks descending on Central London with the police closing off the A40 fly-over for use as a truck park for the day. Following this, a rally was held at Marble Arch. Later in the day, a deputation went to 10 Downing Street to deliver a formal petition calling for the reduction of UK fuel duty. There were those who felt that the 2007 fuel protests were politically motivated, given that many truck owner operators and farmers would have supported the Conservative Party. The Conservative leader David Cameron gave them his support and promised a “fair fuel stabiliser”, a proposal to limit the price of petrol that was part of the Conservative manifesto for the 2010 UK general election and was announced to be implemented following the budget of March 2011. The “fair fuel stabiliser” which was meant to lower taxes levied on fuel as the price rose and raise tax as the price fell, in fact tax will still rise as the oil price rises but the tax will be capped at the level of inflation at that time and will be applied twice a year, but when the oil price is falling then the tax can be greater than inflation. Quote from "Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates" section 3.44: "When oil prices are high, as now, fuel duty will increase by the retail prices index (RPI). However, if the oil price falls below a set trigger price on a sustained basis, the Government will increase fuel duty by RPI plus 1 penny per litre. The Government believes that a trigger price of $75 per barrel would be appropriate, and will set a final trigger price and mechanism after seeking the views of oil and gas companies and motoring groups".

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