British prime ministers know the trouble that fuel shortages can bring. In September 2000, protesters blockaded refineries — causing one of the major crises of Tony Blair’s first term.
Secretly, Blair’s government prepared for radical action. “It took us under 20 hours to get a rationing system in place for if we needed it,” said one person who was a minister at the time. “We wanted to keep it quiet, for obvious reasons. Once people knew about it there would have been panic.”
Under the plan, there would have been a “few hundred” filling stations designated for the emergency services. Two ministers made a secret visit to Balmoral to obtain Queen Elizabeth II’s sign-off.
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