I did consider this but as queues are somewhat atypical it stands to reason there's a lot of people buying fuel now than there would be, obviously panic buying can range from 'argh there's a shortage in the news, lets fill the tank plus five jerry cans' to 'i normally stick £30 in but ill go a bit further and brim the tank to the top it up because i might not be able to if this goes on another few weeks'
Obviously ones slightly less panicked than the other. Personally i just want to get another £20 in as per routine.
I'd disagree. Given that the queues are not something we'd normally see, it therefore follows that the majority of people in those queues must be panic buying. Unless there is suddenly now a big increase in the mileage people are doing, it cannot be long until demand drops: hopefully supplies will get to the petrol stations to allow those who really do need fuel to fill up without the queues.
Personally I'd put a minimum spend of, say, £30 on anyone buying petrol or diesel. That way if the panicking idiots turn up wanting to top up with £10 worth, they would soon get the message when £10 of fuel cost them £30. Call it an idiot tax, if you like.
I went cycling for 2 hours earlier, covering 35 miles of unique roads, where I counted 4 petrol stations with long queues outside, and at least as many, if not more, with no queues and some form of fencing/cordon that implied they had no petrol. If all these petrol stations had fuel supplies and were open, those wanting fuel would likely spread out more amongst them. But when less supply points become available, it's natural for customers to concentrate more towards the fewer supply points available.
I'm not suggesting nobody is panic buying at all, but I'm confident there is more than meets the eye.
By the way, I wouldn't not advocate any form of "idiot tax" without major reforms to our education systems first. While there are idiots for the sake of it, there are plenty who are ill-informed/educated because our education systems don't teach what needs teaching, such as critical thinking, nor are fully up to standard for other reasons, not just in schools but workplaces and other areas as well.