Protesters drove a slow-moving procession of vehicles down key British roads on Monday to demand government action to stop skyrocketing fuel prices.
The action came as senior criminal lawyers in England and Wales staged a second strike against years of government cuts to their fees, deepening a “summer of discontent” as strikes swept Britain.
Railway workers have already staged a series of work stoppages to push for better wages as UK headline inflation hits a 40-year high of just under 10 per cent, partly due to the war in Ukraine.
On the road, a social media campaign called Fuel Price Stand Against Tax mobilized drivers to slow down on freeways and other thoroughfares and called on the government to lower fuel taxes.
One of the motorways affected was the M4 including the Prince of Wales Bridge linking England and Wales.
Welsh Police said they arrested 12 people for driving under 30mph “over an extended period”.
Vicky Stamper lost her job as a truck driver last month after rising fuel costs forced the company to cut costs.
“I’m here because I lost my job because of the fuel and the greedy people at the top are taking all our money,” she told AFP just across the border in England.
Addressing any members of the public who have been bothered by the action, Stamper said: “We are doing this for everyone”.
“If you want a whining instead of whining, join us.”
– ‘No choice’ –
The government insists it has already cut fuel taxes once and is offering further financial support to the public while blaming Russia for triggering the rapid rise in energy prices.
“People’s daily lives should not be disrupted,” said a spokesman.
The government also says it is meeting defense lawyers’ demands by offering a 15 percent increase in fees from the end of September.
But the boost only applies to new cases, not the tens of thousands piling up in a backlog as UK courts grapple with the fallout from the Covid pandemic.
Outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, barristers in black robes and wigs insisted the government significantly increase their bid as they dropped out for a second week and promised more strikes.
Protesting barrister Emma Heath, 34, said defenders could spend eight hours preparing for a client receiving legal aid and are paid just £126 ($153) by the government.
“We fully appreciate the impact, but until the government wakes up and sees what is actually happening with criminal legal aid funding, we have no choice,” she told AFP.
Justice Secretary Dominic Raab – a former lawyer – has called the strike action “regrettable” and said it would “only delay justice for the victims”.
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