As oil prices escalate, haulage companies - which could go to the wall as one of their major costs goes through the roof - plan to demonstrate to ask the chancellor to cut the per centage he rakes in from his tax on petrol.

Mr Brown seems not to be of a mind to resist the lure of increased tax revenues. After all, his government spends money as if they’re oil sheiks…. But he wants others to make use of their increased oil revenues:

He is also pushing oil-producing nations to divert their current windfall into funding more production and refining facilities.

At the same time, Mr Brown wants more effort put into finding greener alternatives, with the World Bank to set up a fund to help developing countries do the same.

The IMF should create a fund for poorer countries hit by the rising prices, part-funded by Opec, he said.

So there you have it - the Brown approach:

Everyone else - do something! The British government - do nothing!