Fuel Confusion - Maude doubly responsible for panic buying and unsafe advice

Francis Maude was the minister responsible for advising people to buy and stockpile petrol in preparation for possible strike action. He later had to withdraw this ludicrous advice after the Fire Brigade Union pointed out the obvious fire hazard and the illegality of storing large quantities of petrol.

The PCS union has now pointed out that the issuing of such unsafe advice could have been avoided if Maude hadn't scrapped the Central Office of Information, the agency previously responsible for disseminating public information, which closed today.