-UK government gets extra powers for fuel crisis LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - The British government said on Tuesday that it had taken on extra powers to cope with escalating fuel shortages across the country caused by truckers and farmers protesting against high petrol prices. The measures, and Prime Minister Tony Blair"s refusal to bow to protestors" demands, point to a showdown between the government and demonstrators in a rare outbreak of unrest over prices, dubbed the "Great Petrol Revolt 2000" by the Sun tabloid. The extra powers were sanctioned at a Monday meeting of the Privy Council, a panel of judges, church dignitaries and politicians which advises the Queen. "The government has...evoked powers under the Energy Act 1976 as a prudent and precautionary measure," a statement from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said. "This enables us to take steps to ensure that available supplies of petrol, diesel and heating oil are distributed so as to safeguard essential services," the DTI said. The Privy Council"s order allows Stephen Bryers, trade and industry secretary, to issue directions controlling the distribution of fuel. The DTI did not give further details.

Thousands of British filling stations were running dry as hauliers and farmers blockaded refineries and oil depots. Shortages have spread from the northwest to the southeast, hitting central London late on Monday. They were further aggravated by panic buying from motorists braving long queues to stock up on petrol. The protestors also caused traffic buildups by driving snail-paced along major roads. POLICE CONSIDER ACTION, BLAIR UNDER PRESSURE The Privy Council"s decision comes as British police consider what steps they can take to minimise disruption. "We will be doing everything within our power to ensure...that people who wilfully obstruct the access and egress from such sites (oil installations) are dealt with firmly within the law," the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said. Demonstrations and blockades have been peaceful so far, with police unwilling to intervene as long as fuel tanker drivers volunteer not to try to defy the protestors. But the standoff could be tested over the coming days if the crisis begins to affect emergency services. "If at some stage action has to be taken to preserve life and emergency services, then the police will make that judgement and act accordingly," an ACPO spokesman told Reuters. British media have reported that ambulance services are beginning to refuse non-urgent cases while some surgery was cancelled at a hospital in Gwent, south Wales. Blair, whose evening plans in the northern city of Hull were disrupted by the protests, said the government had sent a "strong signal" to the police that it would back any action they deemed necessary. But his hands-off approach to the crisis so far has been condemned in some quarters. "A man who is willing to dispatch the SAS to Sierra Leone should be capable of doing more than nudging the senior ranks of the Greater Manchester Constabulary in the right direction," The Times newspaper said in its editorial column. Blair says that oil producers, not the British government, are to blame for rising fuel costs, although the truckers are angry at the state energy levy which accounts for around three quarters of the price of fuel.

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-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), September 11, 2000