Did somebody say that there was a fuel crisis in the UK, and that we were in economic meltdown?
Well I know I’m a bit of a cynic and anybody who’s read my blog posts in the past will know that I do look at things a little bit differently to what the papers say and to what the headlines say on the news channels.
But what I’m asking is “what fuel crisis?”
Also “what economic meltdown?”
I sometimes wonder if this crisis and others like it is fuelled (excuse the pun) by a nice big fat wad of cash stuffed in the back pocket of a politician in order to create a crisis. Any chance this “crisis” is linked to the “cash for Cameron” scandal or is it just a coincidence that we are all panic buying fuel a week after that storm broke out?
The consequences of panic fuel buying are obvious. Panic buying of fuel has gripped the UK today and will most likely have our fuel pumps working overtime for the next few days. So who are the beneficiaries of this crisis? That’s an easy one to answer isn’t it?
Firstly, the oil companies benefit because they will sell more fuel in the short term. Secondly, the government benefits because of the massive percentage of tax they reap from every litre of fuel we buy. Thirdly, the haulage companies benefit because as long as we are panic buying petrol and diesel they will have to deliver more fuel to the pumps. And, fourthly, the fuel stations who not only sell petrol and diesel but also sell bread, milk, sweets, newspapers, cigarettes, etc… etc…
I must be off my rocker suggesting this. Surely it couldn’t be a set-up!
Or could it?
Let’s say that there is no crisis in the next couple of weeks and, as a result, millions of people say to themselves “hey look my fuel tank is full let’s go out for the day” and they go out with their family and use up the bulk of that fuel in their tank. The next day, they are back at the fuel station to get more petrol or diesel.
So we panic in the short term, and spend 50, 60, 70, £80 or more on fuel (which most of the drivers in the queues don’t desperately need), then we realise (in a few days or a couple of weeks) that there is no crisis after-all so we flaunt that fuel from our tank by having a nice day out (kind of like having an extra few quid in your pocket – you splash out) and then we go back to buying fuel as normal.
For many people that extra top-up of fuel will last a little bit longer. But for many people, if there is no crisis, they’ll enjoy the fact that they’ve got extra fuel in their tank and will take advantage of that with a couple of extra journeys that they might not otherwise have taken.
But the end result is that we will have shelled out vast amount of money in a very short space of time giving the oil companies a huge chunk of profit, the government a great big wad of change into their resources and a lot of overtime paid to the haulage companies.
What economic meltdown are we in at the moment if it’s this easy to force people into panic buying.
All we need now is a few flakes of snow and everybody will start panic buying from the supermarkets and our economy is lifted completely!
Maybe I shouldn’t say that because there may be a headline on the news later that snow is imminent and we should all stock up with bread, milk, eggs, cheese, meat and 3 for £10 DVDs for when we get snowed in.
Then we’ll have the fuel companies making a profit, the government pulling in shed loads of tax revenue, the haulage companies putting in loads of overtime, the supermarket staff working overtime stocking the shelves, the bakers busy baking bread, the butchers busy chopping up pigs and cows, the greengrocers busy doing whatever greengrocers do.
Everybody wins in a panic buying situation, right?
The really funny thing about the crisis is that we seem to stop complaining about the prices and complain, briefly, about waiting in a queue. We are funny folk aren’t we?
What fuel crisis?
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