I’ve been watching with interest the truckers attempting to march on Parliament in protest against the outrageous fuel prices we now have to pay. Good on them I say. About time some people in this country did stand together and showed a little backbone.
What it has brought to light is how supposedly "counter-terror" legislation can be manipulated to suit whatever government wants to use it against. For example, the convoy from West Wales will not be allowed to visit the Welsh Assembly and hand their petition over. Likewise, any attempts at an effective protest will be illegal, as counter-terror legislation seems to have been written with a view to enabling government to stifle dissenters using the legal system. A bit odd in what is supposedly a liberal democracy.
The situation would seem to be that, as ever, a London-centric government and media hasn’t the faintest idea of what life is like for the rest of the country. They may be noticing the increased cost of food and iWidgets due to haulage companies having to charge retailers more to cover fuel bills, but in their cosy little world of buses and a reliable tube system it really doesn’t matter that diesel has hit £1.32 a litre.
Try putting yourself in this position: You live in the middle of nowhere. The only things you can buy locally are food, medicine, DIY supplies, stamps, and for some reason spectacles. If you want anything electronic then you have a forty mile plus drive to the nearest large retailer or you have to take the risk of buying online and unseen. Buses are either non-existent or on a twice daily basis, so you have to arrive at your destination at some unearthly hour and wait around all day to get home. Trains were mostly cancelled by a certain Dr back in the 1960s, those remaining seem to have been designed by a sadistic dwarf as revenge on tall people. Neither form of public transport would respond well to your turning up at the station with a large flatscreen TV.
This would probably be a good point at which to give a round of applause to our local post office. They’re brilliant, and without them mail order would be a non-starter. Unfortunately many even more remote villages have had their local post office close, which is not helpful to put it mildly.
City dwellers will also have trouble grasping the concept of needing a larger engine. It’s not macho posturing. It’s a simple case of a rubber band not being up to the job. An 1100cc Corsa will not carry four people and a bootload of shopping up steep hills in comfort at a steady 60mph. You need a medium sized to large car with ample power. Power needs fuel. While the advent of 150bhp two litre turbodiesel engines that return 50mpg has been welcomed, they are not a huge amount of use to those who need to haul outsize loads. For that, you need a 4x4.
They are not fashion accessories or compensation for anything, despite what oh-so-cool and oh-so-sheltered media types may try to tell you. They’re a response to a world where you might well come around a corner to find half an earth bank on the road, and where due to the lack of van hire firms you will have to bring that new shower cubicle forty miles home from B&Q yourself. That vast majority will be diesel, around ten years old, and returning around 30mpg. It costs over £100 to fill up with diesel now locally, which works out at close to £20 for a return shopping trip. Meanwhile Londoners balk at the fact that the Circle Line is running a few minutes late. You really don’t know you’re born.
