SO Tony Blair says there will be no cave-in over the fuel crisis which, today, was creeping closer to the Government's doorstep in London.

In being so resolute, he's made the latest in a series of mistakes and misjudgements that will shape the rest of his term at Number 10.

He and his Ministers are blaming panic-buying, not the blockades closing oil refineries, for the nation's rapid acceleration towards disaster.

If he truly believes that, he's missing the point which will - like it or not - have to be acknowledged soon.

The home truth is that he would be unwise to ignore the will of the people, however much that idea of a climbdown might stick in his craw.

The People's case is that the blockades aren't the cause of the problem, they're the symptom.

The People's case is that, while we've been paying more and more for fuel, the Government has been coining in tax revenue over and above what it needs to cover its spending plans.

The People's case is that, in thousands of homes and businesses across Britain, the crippling cost of fuel means that there's nothing to lose in bringing the nation to a halt.

So what strategy is open to Mr Blair?

If he decides to clear the picket lines with police, it has to be non-violent.

Otherwise, he has to hope that, when the first ambulance fails to dash its dying patient to hospital in time, or food supplies are disrupted, it's the lorry drivers, farmers and taxi-drivers who feel the heat, not him.

That's a big risk to take, as recent history should remind him. Edward Heath's downfall was the 1974 fuel crisis, James Callaghan's the Winter of Discontent. Margaret Thatcher was at least able to demonise Arthur Scargill in the miners' strike.

But today's protesters are ordinary people trying to make a living and seeing a Prime Minister who doesn't agree that, blockades or not, fuel prices are too high.

His army of MPs passing dry pumps around the country should be telling him so. Call it a cave-in, a climbdown, pragmatic politics or justice. It just has to happen.