Drivers turn to Facebook for fuel protest
Date: 16 November 2007
A group of Facebook members have started a group protesting about the rising fuel costs that are currently affecting the haulage industry and threatening to damage competitiveness.
Over 150,000 people have now registered with the social networking site's 'No Fuel Day - 19 November 2007' to protest against government increases in fuel tax, the last of which saw 2p per litre added at the beginning of October.
The group's creators pointed out that rising fuel costs have an impact through the supply chain as they drive up haulage expenses, which filter down to the consumer.
They said that "not only is the price of fuel going up, but at the same time airlines are forced to raise their prices and road haulage companies are forced to raise their prices".
On November 10th, the group launched a 'Boycott BP' event in a bid to drive the company to lower its fuel prices as, according to the Facebook post, it is "the most expensive".
A spokesperson for BP, however, told the Times that high prices were due to factors affecting the cost of crude oil, "including international unrest, demand in the US and the weak dollar".
The Road Haulage Association recently called upon the government to put an "end to fuel duty increases that are fuelling inflation" and to find a "solution to the unfair fuel duty difference between the UK and the rest of the EU".
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