Wednesday 6 July 2022 10:54 AM Fuel protester arrested over M4 blockade claims she was held in police cell ... trends now

A ringleader of the fuel protests that brought UK motorways to a standstill yesterday has today warned Boris Johnson he should be 'worried' and declared: 'The general public was supporting us'.

Haulier Tariq Akram organised a rolling roadblock on the M180 between Doncaster in South Yorkshire and Grimsby in Lincolnshire during the morning rush hour.

He said: 'Boris needs to be worried as the general public was supporting us. People got involved that we didn't expect to'.

Mr Akram said that unlike Insulate Britain eco warriors, who glued themselves to roads to shut them, Fuel Price Stand Against Tax (FPSAT) kept one lane open on routes to allow traffic to pass or emergency services such as police cars and ambulances to get through. But many drivers joined the protest instead of rushing through, the businessman claims.

He said: 'The public would continue for a mile or so and then get on their way. We will be hit by people who hate us, but the response we have had is more positive. People are saying thank you for doing it, and standing up for us'.

FPSAT now plan to target London and have proposed meeting in Parliament Square at Midday on Friday July 22, after driving slowly through the capital during the morning rush hour amid fears 'go slow' protests could escalate dramatically this summer.

The Government is said to fear that slow-moving convoys on major routes could become regular and see the start of a new movement akin to the gilets jaunes across the Channel, where working class protesters wearing yellow vests shut down France over economic problems and the cost of living.

It came as Priti Patel urged police to take a 'zero tolerance' approach and use tough new powers to stop them and said officers should arrest and charge the drivers. Her broadside came as a Tory MP warned that rising anger at the soaring price of filling up could see Canadian-style 'Freedom Convoy' blockades targeting London.

Conservative MP Robert Halfon called for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to go further than the 5p per litre reduction in fuel duty implemented in March's Spring Statement, and said the growing wave of anger should not be ignored.

'I don't want anything that disrupts people in their ordinary lives,' he said. 'But I'm worried that this is a precursor to even more protests that are going to spread around the UK. If we're not careful, we're going to have a Canadian-style situation, with truck drivers descending on Parliament.'

What does fuel cost at the moment? 

At the time of publishing, the average price of petrol has hit at an all-time high, which has been an almost daily occurrence in the last few weeks. 

Diesel also isn't far short of its steepest price on record.

On Sunday 3 July, the UK average for petrol hit a new record 191.53p a litre, while diesel hung on to record levels at 199.03p a litre - just a fraction short of the all-time high of 199.07p set on Friday 1 July.

What makes the price of fuel change? 

What motorists pay at the pumps is determined by a number of factors that make-up the overall price of petrol and diesel. However, the single biggest influence is the price of crude oil.

This had a major impact on what is charged for 'wholesale' petrol and diesel - the price paid by fuel companies.

Experts from the AA and RAC have repeatedly accused the industry of 'rocket and feather pricing': quickly passing rising wholesale prices onto consumers but not cutting them as urgently when the fall. 

What else determines fuel prices? 

And other factors are also at play when it comes to the price of petrol and diesel.

This includes the cost of biofuel content used in the manufacturing of both fuel types that is designed to make them more environmentally friendly.

Also adding to the pump price calculation is the cost of transporting the fuel, retailer profit margins and last - but no means least - taxation.

In fact, petrol and diesel is taxed twice in the UK: the first is fuel duty of 52.59p paid on every litre of fuel, which is then also taxed at 20 per cent for VAT. 

It means over 40 per cent of what drivers currently pay at the pump is taxation.

What sparked the sudden rise in fuel prices? 

Cast your mind back 12 months and the price of petrol and diesel was 130.5p-a-litre and 133p respectively at the start of July 2021. But prices were on the brink of a rise.

The combination of a fuel supply crisis, panic buying and rising oil meant petrol and diesel prices in October had eclipsed previous record highs that had existed since April 2012.

But it was the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February that triggered the cost of filling up to skyrocket. 

Russia is one of the world's largest oil exporters, but the fallout from its invasion of Ukraine has resulted in sanctions on Russian products.

Should fuel prices be lower than they are? 

The RAC says the price of petrol in particular should already be much lower than what it currently is after five weeks of decline wholesale prices.

Simon Williams, the motoring organisation's fuel price expert, says major supermarkets are

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