Government blamed for sparking panic buying as fire service union warn over minister's advice of storing fuel in jerry cans
David Cameron placed the army at the heart of plans to beat off a planned strike by petrol tanker drivers as ministers moved to recover ground after being accused of creating a crisis.
An emergency meeting of the Whitehall Cobra committee, chaired by the prime minister, drew up plans to increase the number of troops entitled to drive tankers by shortening the training period.
Ministers instructed the Ministry of Defence to undermine picket lines at fuel depots by using rubberised military containers to store fuel.
Cameron used the Cobra meeting, attended by a string of cabinet ministers and senior Whitehall officials, to try to regain the initiative after ministers were criticised for sparking panic buying of petrol. Motoring and fuel organisations accused ministers of creating a crisis after No 10 warned motorists on Tuesday that they should make contingency preparations by filling up their cars with petrol. Petrol sales subsequently rose by 45% compared with a normal Tuesday.
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, reinforced this message by advising people to place a jerry can of petrol in their garage at home. "There are lives at risk if this action goes ahead as well as massive inconvenience to millions of people up and down the country," Maude said. "The greater the extent to which people have fuel in their vehicles, with maybe a little bit in the garage as well in a jerry can, the longer we will be able to keep things going."
The Fire Brigades Union called on Maude to withdraw the advice on the grounds that it would greatly increase the risk of domestic fires or explosions.
Brian Madderson, the chairman of the Petrol Federation, told the BBC: "I couldn't believe that the government were encouraging people to stockpile fuel. This could be the start of panic buying that the government themselves have fuelled. Also, the health and safety issue of stockpiling fuel at home is not appropriate."
Madderson later told Radio 4's The World at One: "This government appears intent on creating a crisis out of a serious concern. We would have told them, had we been engaged ahead, that there are now 6,000....We believe cool heads must prevail here otherwise we are going to run out of stock rather quickly. By cool heads that means the government as well. They should be focusing their attention on getting Acas around the table with all the parties involved and thrashing out a negotiated settlement instead of encouraging what we are likle to see today which is more sites running out of fuel because there is a surge in demand."
Maude later denied he had advised people to store petrol in jerry cans. "No I am not," he said when he was asked on Radio 4's The World at One why he was issuing such advice.
He claimed there were "sensible regulations" for the amount of petrol people can store in a garage, but when the limits were read out to him, dating back to a 1929 statute, he said: "That is being absurdly technical. What people have in mind is there are sensible low-key things that can be done and if they choose to do it, that's one of them, obviously within sensible constraints."
Labour accused the government of embarking on a "political game" to divert attention away from the budget fallout and to try to embarrass Ed Miliband. The strike, which has to be held no later than 23 April under trade union legislation, is being organised by the Unite union which is the largest financial supporter of the Labour party.
Downing Street said that ministers were not embarking on a political operation. However, Conservative party officials distributed leaflets showing thattanker drivers earn up to £47,500, considerably more than a staff sergeant bomb disposal expert in Afghanistan, who earns £35,000.
Miliband found himself under pressure when he declined to condemn the planned strike. "Our message is that all sides – the unions, the employers and the government – is to make sure both sides get round the table and sort out the problem," the Labour leader said.
"We know we can't afford a strike and we know that must not happen and the way that has got to be stopped is with proper negotiations."
Unite said it had successfully balloted its members on strike action to try to improve health and safety standards for tanker drivers.
Ed Davey, the energy and climate change secretary, asked the conciliation service Acas to convene talks, but attempts to arrange talks immediately are being hindered by the number of different parties involved in the dispute – five contractors face a strike threat and two more would probably need to be involved in any settlement.
Acas is initially expected to seek separate meetings with Unite and the contractors in a bid to thrash out the terms of discussions. Tentative talks have already taken place by phone between Acas and both sides, with formal negotiations likely to open next week.
In order to maintain their strike mandate, tanker drivers must take industrial action by April 23 – or within 28 days of when the strike ballot results were announced.
One option for talks includes looking at the example of the Offshore Contractors' Forum, which brings together unions and oil industry contractors and sets minimum standards that companies must follow. Creating an on-shore equivalent with haulier contractors and union officials could be one option. However, haulier contractors are adamant that national pay bargaining is not an option but appear willing to discuss minimum standards on health and safety, accredited training and the transfer of pension schemes when haulier contracts change hands. One of Unite's biggest concerns is the whittling down of terms and conditions whenever a petrol delivery contract is re-tendered and taken on by a new contractor, which then imposes tougher employment terms on drivers.A union source added that any deal had to be backed by the contractors' customers, including Shell, Esso, Asda and Tesco, because cost pressures imposed by retailers and oil groups are being passed on by hauliers to their drivers. "We need the likes of the oil groups, Tesco and Sainsbury's to be supportive, not destructive, of any common standards that are introduced. We need these companies to accept and uphold these standards when contracts are retendered," said the source.
Cameron said: "I absolutely do not want to raise the temperature on this any more than is necessary. I do not want a strike to take place. I hope the talks will be successful but, in government, you always have to prepare for any eventuality."