Don’t you hate it when having to do the most mundane of things can make you look like a frothing scaremonger?
Down to the last couple of bars on the fuel gauge, we thought we’d better top up the car with petrol.
Normally that’s an easy task. Pop along to the supermarket, stick in half a tank and move on. Nothing to see here.
Unless, of course, you are in the middle of a national panic buying frenzy, with folk rushing to the pumps amid headlines of petrol stations running dry.
“Chumps,” I thought to myself.
“There was the small issue of dwindling fuel in a car the key worker in our house needs to do her job
It was only when I visited Asda on Saturday and saw the petrol pumps were closed I started to think: “Hmmmm.” And when I walked past the BP petrol station down the road from me and saw all its pumps dry, I thought: “Oh.”
Still, not to panic. But there was the small issue of dwindling fuel in a car that the key worker in our house needs to do her job, which was a worry.
In the end, Mrs B was out and about on Sunday and simply popped into a queueless Tesco, put in half a tank and moved on. Nothing to see there.
Yet still the headlines came about 90% of petrol stations being dry, plus social media clips of middle-aged men filling enough jerry cans to run Amazon’s van fleet for a few days. No doubt so their Ford Mondeos could sit on their drives.
Don’t blame the public, blame politicians
It would be easy to blame the more gullible members of the public for creating the very shortage they were so scared of.
But, in this case, there was clearly a problem. Some petrol stations were drying up, even before that fact hit the press. And we all know there are issues with haulage drivers. We’ve seen the gaps on supermarket shelves.
“There isn’t a single other nation in Europe facing dry petrol pumps and empty shops. Gosh, why is that?
So who can blame some people for thinking they better top up? Especially when a UK Tory minister “reassures” the public that there is plenty of fuel in the country. We are so used to being misled by these shysters, it isn’t a huge leap to realise there might be enough fuel, it’s just in the wrong place. Like refineries.
It’s a bit like a Tory saying there’s plenty of money on the country. True, it’s just that it’s in the bank accounts of the uber-wealthy sharks they fete, not in pockets of ordinary people.
Smoke and mirrors
Smoke and mirrors are the Tories’ stock in trade. See also: “The lorry driver problem is because of Covid.” Nothing at all to do with slamming shut the doors on our friends from Europe who were keeping the NHS afloat, stocking our supermarket shelves and, yes, driving our lorries.
There isn’t a single other nation in Europe facing dry petrol pumps and empty shops. Gosh, why is that?
So, now we have temporary visas for European workers to come here and save the day – until they get kicked out on Christmas Eve. Wow, what a tempting offer for them.
In that mix are foreign poultry workers needed to make sure the traditional British festive dinner is delivered for December 25.
I suppose I should refrain from making the point that Brexiteers were like turkeys voting for Christmas. But I won’t.
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This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.