As petrol ran out, Britain's prime minister, Tony Blair, ruled out immediate concessions to the protesters.
Furthermore, if the bus drops beneath 50mph the bomb goes off, therefore trapping the bus and its occupants in perpetual motion (well, until the petrol runs out).
"The great success of the sons of the people in producing high-quality petrol" ran its headline, over a picture of an Iranian refinery purring away under a flawless blue sky.
The mere thought of the blue skies, sandy beaches and all-you-can-swallow goat and tomato and aubergine and ouzo allows us to keep looking at you pasty Brits with pity, and it is also the only thing that keeps us warm in the winter once the petrol runs out.
"Markets were tight and demand for diesel and petrol was running high," Mr. Leitch said.
Strikes at the country's refineries led to a third of the country's petrol stations running dry.
There are few more terrifying threats a government faces than the lights going out or the petrol pumps running dry.
The government has failed to balance the books which means that foreign reserves, which it needs buy petrol, are running low.
The traffic lights were out, the phone lines unreliable, and there was talk of petrol stations running dry and bare supermarket shelves.
With council tax, utilities and petrol costs running to £5,000 a year, the average Briton was left with close to £15,000.During the boom years income and outgoings moved in ways that made household finances glow.
