I really have been too angry to respond to this thread so far but now I feel much better and just a little vindicated. I think what may have started out as what the protesters saw as a legitimate ( although self centred ) protest was hi jacked by the extreme right and the lunatic fringe, and I don't think the oil companies did anything to alleviate the situation.(Am I being too cynical when I suggest that they deliberately waited until the whole country was virtually dry and then raised their prices).Of course the Govt must NOT back down or we shall all sorts of pressure groups trying the same tactics. one wonders how many of these truckers would be willing to pay less in fuel tax but more in income tax, which is much fairer. As a nurse and a parent I like having more spent on hospitals and I am pleased that my daughter's school has more teachers and more resources than it had three years ago. I also wonder where the truckers and the farmers get their fuel from to blockade the roads ( have the police tested the vehicles to see if they are running on red DERv(tax free fuel sold exclusively for off road agricultural vehicles). While we're on the subject of the police would they have been quite so pally with the protesters if they had been wearing miners helmets (if you can find any nowadays)

Viv (now getting off soap box)