[Katana]

That is how we spell it in British English where the word ends in ize. The American English dialect has a few other grammar differences as from British English, mostly pointless in my opinion since it doesn't affect the pronunciation, such as armor/armour rumor/rumour, center/centre liter/litre etc.

As for the protests, they won't achieve much, if they reduce tax on petrol they'll just shove it on something else like income tax or road tax. Gordon brown will probably just freeze tax to shut people up for a while, he's becoming a very unpopular PM and the labour party got a good kicking in recent local elections. Petrol at £1.16 a litre ($10 a us gallon), diesel at £1.30 a litre ($11-12 a us gallon) is making him a very, very unpopular figure quickly, and food prices going up and a unsure housing market caused by the sub-prime fiasco, the fuel thing is becoming the last straw for people in england.
I'll end that rant there before i go off on a tangent.

I don't think people would mind as much if there was a viable alternative to petrol/diesel cars, people need to get to work and move around, the buses are expensive, dirty and full of yobs/drunks if you ride at night (been mugged on one myself), trains are slow/delayed, crowded and in need of major infrastructure overhaul.

Hybrid cars are a stop gap till hydro fuel cell is viable, EV's aren't really good without quick charging, or unless you can park somewhere with a power outlet to charge from, which is hard if you like a block of flats or a tower block with a crappy car park or even no car parking, which is common in england, even if you own a house parking can still be a pain.