Six years ago this week were all sitting in our houses amid a Government-imposed lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic but this week has felt strangely reminiscent of that weird time.

Not because we have all been forced to stay indoors again (thankfully) but because the panic buying has started anew.

Only this time instead of it being toilet roll and pasta, it has been petrol and diesel.

Panic buying leading to restrictions at Tayside and Fife pumps

In The Courier and other newspapers, on television and on social media people have been reporting shortages at filling stations in Tayside and Fife, or drivers queuing up to fill their tank with “liquid gold”.

Some locations have even had to send a member of staff out to act as a steward at the pumps.

And one petrol station in Crieff even limited how much fuel customers can pump.

I saw it for myself on Wednesday evening as I drove along Riverside Drive in Dundee.

At the Tesco filling station, every pump had one of those yellow “not in use” covers on it.

Is there really a fuel shortage?

But is that because there is a supply shortage, or are drivers creating the shortage by panic buying, leaving others without?

On social media and even in some of my group chats people are sharing where is open and where has run out of supplies.

One comment I read suggested that posting about it is just making the situation worse because people read about one or two filling stations that have run out, panic and go out and unnecessarily fill up their tanks “just in case”.

The question drivers need to ask is: Do I really need to do that?

I work from home and I live in a decent-sized town, so I can walk to get most of my essentials if I have to.

But just a few years ago I lived on a farm where the nearest small supermarket was around eight miles away and I had to drive to get there. I understand the need for rural residents to have petrol or diesel in their vehicles.

For people living in towns and cities, though, there are public transport options on top of an abundance of places to get fuel. So if you can’t get at one you can go to one of the others instead.

Calls for calm amid panic buying

But motoring groups have said that there is no concerns over supplies of fuel and therefore no need to stock up in the first place.

Fuels Industry UK CEO Elizabeth de Jong and Petrol Retailers Association boss Gordon Balmer said in a joint statement: “Supply across the UK is flowing normally and there is no need for any change in usual buying habits.”

AA president Edmund King also said: “But supplies are coming in as normal now, so there is plenty of fuel to go round. Again, we stress it is best for drivers to follow their normal refuelling patterns.”

What I don’t understand is how people can afford to panic buy – the cost of a litre of fuel has rocketed since the conflict began.

I drive a diesel car and when I filled up on Wednesday night in Perth – all of Morrisons pumps were flowing when I stopped there – it was over £1.84.

STV reported this week that the RAC has claimed the average price of a litre of diesel at UK forecourts on Wednesday was 184.2p, up 29% since the conflict in the Middle East began on February 28.

One man is to blame for the fuel panic

The reason for this panic buying (and the quickly rising costs) is simple: Donald Trump.

His attack on Iran triggered the conflict in the Middle East and now they are fighting back by hitting him (and us) where it’ll hurt most: Our pockets.

Once again, the US president’s words and actions have shown that he is a man who acts first and thinks later. Or are he and his cronies cashing in on the increased costs of fuel, and this is something that is actually benefitting him?

There doesn’t seem to be an imminent end to this conflict because Iran aren’t exactly known for backing down from a fight and Trump refuses to accept or admit defeat.

So if they aren’t going to keep calm, maybe we should?

Because if we want to keep our community and our local economy moving, we are going to need some fuel.

© The Courier