Blair: 'I'm not out of touch'

Tony Blair today denied that his reluctance to cut fuel taxes showed he was "out of touch".

Tony Blair today denied that his reluctance to cut fuel taxes showed he was "out of touch".

The Prime Minister insisted that surrending to the protesters would affect families, education and pensions.

He said on BBC radio: "Let's say I give in to protesters' demands and give people a big cut off the fuel duty. Now, you could say that is in touch, because people want that money off their fuel duty.

"But if it meant a family then ended up with their mortgage payments going up or can't get their children decently educated at school or their parents didn't get a decent pension, would that be being in touch?"

But the Conservatives claimed Chancellor Gordon Brown planned to use his mini-Budget next week to buy off critical among hauliers, farmers, motorists and pensioners.

Queues at petrol pumps - sparked partly by Government hints that Mr Brown would resist protesters' demands - were today reported to be easing. The Petrol Retailers' Association said the message had got through to most motorists that supplies were plentiful and there was no need to panic.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott scornfully compared the fuel lobby's demands with the needs of families flooded out of their homes by the recent storms.

And he maintained the Government's tough line on the protests as he visited flood-stricken York today.

He told BBC1's Breakfast with Frost: "Government cannot accept that a few people at some refinery gates can stop the country running and deny it fuel with all the effects and consequences for our emergency services.

"Government must govern. That is what the Prime Minister's made clear and at the end of the day we will be accountable to the electorate.

"In the meantime, they have told us to get on with the job, be competent and make the best decisions and that is what we are trying to do."

Mr Prescott admitted: "In the middle of all these problems, floods and railways, I can tell you, at times it is not always easy. But I know we have got the long-term decisions right."