UK Politics - We Don’t Want to See Your Papers, Please

[Heartofice]

7 minutes ago, Denvek said:

You appear to be defining "shortage" strictly as a shortage of fuel, which there technically isn't, it's just that the fuel isn't in the place it needs to be for the public to be able to buy it. The definition the rest of the thread, and my offline conversations, are using is that a shortage is where people want to buy fuel but can't. It doesn't matter if the refineries are at full capacity - if the fuel doesn't exist at the filling stations then there's a shortage.

But this kind of semantic quibbling is a pointless argument that nobody wins, so let's just leave it at that and wait for the government to pretend to do something about it while the opposition fights among themselves.

I’m also quibbling over the idea that there was any sort of large scale problem with supply at all. There wasn’t, it was a small localised issue that has been way over blown and caused a mass panic due to some pretty irresponsible reporting and poor communication from the PM. 

[BigFatCoward]

At least (unlike with toilet roll) there is a finite amount of fuel most people can buy (other than the absolute ball bags filling up Jerry cans as well). 

[Ser Ilyn's Tongue]

At least half, if not most, stations I drove past today (from East Anglia to Sussex) inc. many motorway services were closed/had no petrol. Anecdotal I know, but claiming it was a small a localised issue, I would suggest, is inaccurate.

[Heartofice]

6 hours ago, Ser Ilyn's Tongue said:

At least half, if not most, stations I drove past today (from East Anglia to Sussex) inc. many motorway services were closed/had no petrol. Anecdotal I know, but claiming it was a small a localised issue, I would suggest, is inaccurate.

Because so many people started scrambling for petrol!! Oh my god. 

[Luzifer's right hand]

So if my blood stops working properly and my cells do not get enough oxygen it it is not a real problem because there is enough oxygen in the air? Am I understanding the fuel problem in the UK correctly?

[Heartofice]

I’m really not sure how this is so difficult for people to grasp.

[DaveSumm]

Ok I enjoyed the friend zone one but this is stupid. There’s no longer much fuel at the petrol stations, caused largely by panic buying. Couldn’t give a shit what you call that.

[Denvek]

13 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I’m also quibbling over the idea that there was any sort of large scale problem with supply at all. There wasn’t, it was a small localised issue that has been way over blown and caused a mass panic due to some pretty irresponsible reporting and poor communication from the PM. 

No one said there was a large-scale supply problem - we said there was a fuel shortage. And once we realise that we're not using the same meaning of the word we can accept that while there wasn't a large scale supply problem, there now is a large-scale petrol-stations-don't-have-petrol problem, caused in part by the government incompetence and scare-mongering clickbait reporting you mention, and in part by the Brexit-caused and COVID-exacerbated lack of HGV drivers.

And on that lack of drivers, the government has announced that there are now visas for 5,000 HGV drivers to come to work in Britain for 3 months, but they have to go home on Christmas Eve. Come to work in a country that hates immigrants and has worse conditions for HGV drivers than the EU does, and, based on what happened last year, take a chance on not being able to get home for your Christmas in order to save ours.

[Heartofice]

Just now, Denvek said:

No one said there was a large-scale supply problem - we said there was a fuel shortage. And once we realise that we're not using the same meaning of the word we can accept that while there wasn't a large scale supply problem, there now is a large-scale petrol-stations-don't-have-petrol problem, caused in part by the government incompetence and scare-mongering clickbait reporting you mention, and in part by the Brexit-caused and COVID-exacerbated lack of HGV drivers.

It’s almost entirely due to scaremongering and herd mentality stupidity, which is the point I’m trying to get across. 

[kiko]

44 minutes ago, Denvek said:

Come to work in a country that hates immigrants and has worse conditions for HGV drivers than the EU does, and, based on what happened last year, take a chance on not being able to get home for your Christmas in order to save ours.

Also I wonder. If I were a lorry driver and all things being equal. Would I go to a country where I can drive on the right side, like I'm used to, or would I go to one of the few in the world where I have to go through the additional stress of driving on the left side?

[kiko]

1 hour ago, DaveSumm said:

Ok I enjoyed the friend zone one but this is stupid. There’s no longer much fuel at the petrol stations, caused largely by panic buying. Couldn’t give a shit what you call that.

The real issue is that this panic buying is the rational decision if you live in a failed state. I'm not saying that the UK is a failed state. Absolutely not. But the instincts of the population is a good indicator on which direction it is going.

[Heartofice]

Well it’s only rational to panic buy  if you realise that everyone else is irrationally panic buying! It’s just a domino effect of stupidity. 

[Werthead]

2 hours ago, Denvek said:

No one said there was a large-scale supply problem - we said there was a fuel shortage. And once we realise that we're not using the same meaning of the word we can accept that while there wasn't a large scale supply problem, there now is a large-scale petrol-stations-don't-have-petrol problem, caused in part by the government incompetence and scare-mongering clickbait reporting you mention, and in part by the Brexit-caused and COVID-exacerbated lack of HGV drivers.

And on that lack of drivers, the government has announced that there are now visas for 5,000 HGV drivers to come to work in Britain for 3 months, but they have to go home on Christmas Eve. Come to work in a country that hates immigrants and has worse conditions for HGV drivers than the EU does, and, based on what happened last year, take a chance on not being able to get home for your Christmas in order to save ours.

It's one of those images that's pretty unbelievable, and it's surprising it didn't get more traction in the media.

 

[Spockydog]

1 hour ago, kiko said:

Also I wonder. If I were a lorry driver and all things being equal. Would I go to a country where I can drive on the right side, like I'm used to, or would I go to one of the few in the world where I have to go through the additional stress of driving on the left side?

Fret not. Grant Schapps has set up a stall in Valetta harbour. He's got bunting and union jacks and pictures of the Queen. There's a big sign promising free tea and fry-ups for anyone stupid enough to come here and drive our lorries for us.

[kiko]

1 hour ago, Heartofice said:

Well it’s only rational to panic buy  if you realise that everyone else is irrationally panic buying! It’s just a domino effect of stupidity. 

Yes. And we all know the name of the first domino 

[Spockydog]

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Well it’s only rational to panic buy  if you realise that everyone else is irrationally panic buying! It’s just a domino effect of stupidity. 

Is it panic buying if you need to drive to work on Monday and have barely a quarter of a tank?

You have literally no idea of the circumstances and motivations of the people in those queues. Not a fucking clue.

Or is this yet another phenomenon you appear to be an unrivalled expert on without having any direct experience of?

 

[Heartofice]

Wow people actually seem to be defending moronic panic buying. Don’t remember that when it was toilet paper

[Spockydog]

3 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

Wow people actually seem to be defending moronic panic buying.

I know! Imagine defending people who need petrol to go about their daily lives, when you could be writing thousands of words defending a bunch of sweaty incels. Lol at those idiots.

 

[Heartofice]

7 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

I know! Imagine defending people who need petrol to go about their daily lives, when you could be writing thousands of words defending a bunch of sweaty incels. Lol at those idiots.

 

Except they wouldn’t have a problem if it wasn’t for panic buyers. 

[DaveSumm]

29 minutes ago, Spockydog said:

Is it panic buying if you need to drive to work on Monday and have barely a quarter of a tank?

You have literally no idea of the circumstances and motivations of the people in those queues. Not a fucking clue.

Yea I reckon it’s just a giant coincidence, everyone just ran out at the same time.