Fuel-Price Protests Ease in Britain, Belgium

Britain’s fuel crisis eased Thursday as several blockades ended at refineries and depots, but other protests continued--and one abruptly restarted after demonstrators learned that an oil company had raised its prices.

The protesters won that round, as Esso rescinded the increases.

“Not all the protests are over. There’s some way to go,” Prime Minister Tony Blair said. “It will be days before regular supplies get back to normal, even if the protests finish today.”

As some protesters declared a moral victory and went home, others refused to budge. Some returned to the scenes of abandoned blockades, hoping to stop the tankers again.

Military tankers were pressed into service to help relieve the backlog, but at best, industry officials said, it will take weeks to get supplies fully back to normal.

Elsewhere in Europe, there were also signs of an easing of the protests. In Belgium, protesting truck drivers agreed Thursday to lift a five-day blockade of highways, fuel depots and city streets.

In London, Blair promised to listen to protesters but offered no concessions on the taxes that have made British fuel prices the highest in Europe. British truckers paid an average of $4.33 for a gallon of diesel last month, compared with $2.63 in Belgium, according to the Automobile Assn.

“However much people may dislike paying petrol duty, there’s no way that any government of this country could or should yield to this form of protest,” Blair said during his third nationally televised news conference in as many days.

Rejecting claims of a sales tax windfall because of rising world oil prices, Blair said the extra revenue would not be enough to cut fuel taxes by even a cent.

Still, polls suggest that many Britons blame Blair for the protests. A BBC poll conducted Tuesday found that nearly 80% of those surveyed backed the demonstrators and that 90% wanted cuts in the fuel tax.

Fuel price protests have swept Europe since French drivers took to the streets and won tax concessions earlier in the month.