WHILE wholeheartedly agreeing that the irresponsible advice given by Cabinet Office minister Frances Maude helped instigate the petrol crisis last week, it seems to me that it is about time the public started to take some responsibility for their own actions. We are rapidly losing any common sense in our rush to blame anyone but ourselves.

It was announced at the time that a strike could not lawfully take place without a prior week’s notice and, at the time, the union was to hold more talks this week but people chose not to hear this information and started the panic.

The pictures of the queues of cars, angry drivers yelling abuse and the news of the tragedy of the women badly injured in York because she was siphoning petrol in her kitchen when the gas stove was on just beggars belief. As was the woman trying to fill empty milk cartons and the man with his lawn mower at the pumps.

Governments of all persuasions have a lot to answer for and this Government is no exception. It has proved how out-of-touch it is with the general public and has gone back on its manifesto promises.

But I despair at the crass stupidity of those who don’t engage brain and use common sense. We all have to take responsibility for our own actions.

Val Hawkins, Durham.

POLITICIANS are supposed to connect with people and Government is responsible for ensuring that everyone has a voice.

I wish that politicians would realise that people will react to what they have to say, particularly if there is panic in the message and, as we know, there can be tragic consequences.

Tanker drivers in the fuel industry are being cast as the villains in a drama that has been fuelling concerns. Calm and conciliatory dialogue should have been the Government’s tone. It is almost as if it wanted confrontation.

Indeed, the situation has resembled the rhetoric of the Thatcher Government in the 1980s and a time when unrest was met with discord. Are we to see every dispute or protest channelled into a challenge and perceived as disorder?

Bernie Walsh, Coxhoe.

WHILE I am sure Francis Maude now regrets the panic caused by advising people to store petrol, it was up to an individual to decide whether or not to queue to fill up at inflated prices when no tanker driver strike was called and seven days’ notice would have to be given in the event.

I do have sympathy with the lady who set fire to herself while decanting petrol from one container to another. However, who in their right mind would consider performing this act anywhere in a house, least of all in a kitchen and with a gas burner lit? I guess politicians didn’t see the need to advise against this.

My sympathies also go to Christopher Wardell, who openly admits to having been a ketchup covered pasty and is now a hot dog (HAS, Apr 3).

There are many HAS readers who are now convinced the man is a fruit and nut case.

David Waring,Northallerton.