'In order to defeat the coming fuel drivers' strike, we want supplies of
petrol stockpiled,' Tory MPs reportedly told party associations.
Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Tory MPs have compared the panic over fuel supplies to the 1980s
miners' strike and urged party members to "humiliate" the unions by
stockpiling petrol, it has been reported.
In a private message from MPs to constituency associations,
seen by the Daily Telegraph's Charles Moore, members were told: "This is our Thatcher moment."
The
message reportedly continues: "In order to defeat the coming miners'
strike, [Thatcher] stockpiled coal. When the strike came, she weathered
it, and the Labour party, tarred by the strike, was humiliated. In order
to defeat the coming fuel drivers' strike, we want supplies of petrol
stockpiled. Then, if the strike comes, we will weather it, and Labour,
in hock to the
Unite union, will be blamed."
Labour immediately demanded an apology from the government.
Maria
Eagle, the shadow transport secretary, said: "These allegations are
outrageous. It is unacceptable that the Tory-led government have
attempted to play politics with fuel supplies.
"People will be angry that
David Cameron
has inconvenienced millions in an attempt to create his own 'Thatcher
moment'. The prime minister should apologise to the country for the
chaos his government have created this week."
Number 10 described the claim as a matter for the Conservative party.
A
Conservative party spokesman did not deny the existence of the memo and
added: "The government has always been clear this is about doing
everything possible to protect the country from a potentially crippling
strike, and not about playing politics.
"We urge Unite to negotiate with the employers, and to make clear there will be no strike."
In
his blog, Moore comments: "There is a key difference which ministers
have not spotted. When Mrs Thatcher piled up the coal at power stations
until the strike began in 1984, she was not inconveniencing the public.
"In
2012, the coalition is trying to press-gang the public, without saying
so, into its political battles. All those people queuing on the
forecourts were pawns in a government-organised blame-game."
He
added: "No doubt many people reading this column are happy that Ed
Miliband's and Ed Balls's dependence on a large trade union should be
exposed, but very few, I suspect, appreciate being made into mugs. (And
the political effect, of course, is the opposite of that intended: Unite
now looks virtuous, and is much better placed to win its demands.)"
Len
McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, said the government's
"posturing" was scuppering chances for an end to the tanker drivers'
dispute, which has caused motorists to queues at petrol pumps across the
UK and stockpile fuel in order to pre-empt any strike that could lead
to a fuel shortage. "We call on the government to come clean on its
whole approach to this dispute," said McCluskey. "Is it acting as an
honest broker, or is it spoiling for a fight in order to get itself out
of the political hole its class-focused economic mismanagement has put
it in?
"Over the last few days its every move has been designed to
whip up unnecessary tension at the expense of the public. Ministers
knew all along that a strike could not possibly be less than seven days
away even were it to be called – that is the law. Yet they panicked the
nation all the way to the petrol pumps because they imagined it would
boost them in the polls.
"The British people know that this posturing and positioning is poisoning the prospects for an early resolution to the dispute."
The
government stands accused of mishandling the crisis by Labour MPs, who
called for the resignation of Cabinet Office minister
Francis Maude,
who has faced a barrage of criticism from fire experts ever since
advising motorists earlier this week to store jerry cans of fuel in
their garages.
Calls for his resignation came after
a woman suffered serious burns while transferring petrol into a jerry can in her kitchen.
The
government has since changed its advice to motorists after Unite, the
union representing 2,000 fuel tanker drivers, ruled out the threat of
strikes over Easter. After days of urging motorists to fill up if their
tanks dropped below two-thirds full, the Department for Energy and
Climate Change said there was no need to queue on petrol forecourts.
"There is no urgency to top up your tank, a strike will not happen over Easter," it said.
But
with Unite stressing it retained the right to call industrial action if
talks, expected to start next week, break down, No 10 stressed the
threat was not yet over. "It remains vital we take the necessary steps
to keep the country safe in case there is a strike," a spokesman said.
The
move followed more panic-buying at garages across the country on
Friday, with petrol sales rising by almost 172% on Thursday and diesel
sales up by 77%.
David Cameron said his heart went out to the woman in York who was burnt, describing it as a "desperate" incident.
Speaking
at No 10 shortly after he chaired another meeting of the Cobra
emergency contingencies committee, the prime minister welcomed Unite's
decision and called on the union to engage constructively in talks
expected to start next week at the conciliation service Acas.
Damien Pearse @
'The Guardian'