Brown defiant over fuel demands

Garage forecourts are slowly returning to normal

Chancellor Gordon Brown has rejected demands for a quick cut in fuel duties, saying the government will not give in to petrol protesters.

His defiant stance came as a new Guardian/ICM opinion poll suggested the Conservatives had overtaken Labour in the wake of the fuel crisis.

Meanwhile the government's new fuel task force is still trying to reach an agreement on how to secure supplies of petrol during any future crisis.

Brown: "We are listening to farmers and hauliers"

On Tuesday morning up to two-thirds of the country's garage forecourts were back in operation after a week of nationwide blockades caused fuel supplies to run almost dry.

But Mr Brown has rejected threats by protesters who have said that if there is no action on fuel policy within 60 days they will resume their blockades.

'Not bowing to deadlines'

In an interview with The Times on Tuesday, he said: "We are not going to make decisions on the basis of deadlines such as this. We have a process that works - the Pre-Budget Report and then the Budget."

Richard Haddock, a beef farmer who took part in last week's protests in Plymouth,said the polls reflected public anger at the fuel crisis.

"I am amazed at the attitude and the arrogance of Labour MPs and I think the polls are making that quite clear," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Taskforce tackles change

"The great British electorate are asking for changes. We have a government for the last two and a half years who have not listened to us at all, that's why the fuel demonstrations took place.

"We thought there was no opposition to the Labour Government making noises and we wanted to hear what they were going to do."

Mr Brown's intervention followed the first meeting of the government's new fuel taskforce, chaired by Home Secretary Jack Straw, which is looking at the options for legal change to protect supplies.

On Monday, Mr Straw said he could not rule out further disruption but said he hoped to achieve a "very significant reduction" in the risks through an overhaul of the industry's supply arrangements.

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The meeting, which brought together ministers, oil company executives and the police, failed to agree on a planned "memorandum of understanding," setting out what each side would do in the case of new action.

Three sub-committees will try again on Tuesday to reach a decision on the two issues.

Threat of more blockades

The government's fuel task force meeting for the first time

Mr Straw said: "It is a question of looking at the internal structures of government and the oil supply industry to ensure this kind of disruption is much less likely to occur in the future, and looking at the overall legal framework."

Water, gas and electricity firms already have a legal duty to ensure supplies.

Asked if a fuel crisis could happen again, Mr Straw said: "It is a very rash minister who says something will never happen again, but what we are working on is a very significant reduction of the risk of this kind of disruptive action."

Poll positions

The Guardian/ICM poll suggested Labour were on 34%, four points behind the Tories, who appear to have profited from the government's unpopularity in the light of the fuel crisis.

Nearly two thirds of those questioned blamed the government for petrol price rises and nearly three quarters said Labour was not a listening government.

Garages open

BP have 90% open

Esso 66%

Total Fina Elf 66%

Shell 75%

Texaco 72%

But Mr Brown told The Times the government was listening to farmers and hauliers and was acting now to prevent a repeat of last week's events.

The results come after two weekend polls, one showing the Tories ahead by 2% and another putting the parties neck and neck.

Motorists in some parts of the country are still facing long queues for petrol, but the major oil companies say deliveries are gathering pace.