Here in the UK, it looks like next week will see a major strike by the tanker drivers who keep Shell petrol stations fuelled up – catalysing fears of a potential repeat of the fuel crisis of October 2000. The government has already been drawing up emergency plans, and for the last few days has been calling on motorists not to panic buy stocks for their cars.
I’ve always thought that calling on people not to panic buy is the one measure guaranteed to trigger a rush to build up personal stockpiles. But it emerges that the Cabinet Office’s Civil Contingencies Secretariat is (as ever) several steps ahead of the game: the injunctions against panic buying were precisely designed to get people to start panic buying. The FT’s Jean Eaglesham has the details:
The government assumed that the “buy as normal” message issued by the prime minister on Tuesday would prompt those prone to panic-buying to do exactly that. “We’d rather people started filling their tanks now, giving time for the forecourts to restock before the strike takes hold, than over the weekend,” a government insider told the FT.
The strategy appears to be having some effect. Sales of petrol were up about 10 per cent on Tuesday, compared with the previous week, according to the latest estimates from the Department for Business.
Note to self: never play poker with these people.
