Fuel shortages: the British government tries to reassure – archyde

After supermarkets, petrol stations: the lack of truck drivers in the UK is causing supply difficulties with increasingly visible consequences, forcing the government to call for calm and seek emergency solutions.

The images of closed gas pumps and motorists lining up to refuel for fear of running out of gas have provided a shocking illustration of the hardships faced by the British as a result of the pandemic and Brexit.

According to several British newspapers, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, faced with a worsening fearing the worst for Christmas, is considering among several options the granting of temporary visas for heavy truck drivers despite the opposition of several ministers.

A measure that the employers’ organization CBI calls for, pleading for urgent measures at the highest level of government.

The press also mentions the possibility of mobilizing the army to deliver fuel.

The British group BP said it had closed about twenty stations out of 1,200, while between 50 and 100 lack at least one type of fuel.

US giant ExxonMobil, owner of Esso stations, said Thursday that a “small number” of its 200 stations in Tesco supermarkets were affected by this problem.

Shell for its part observed Friday “an increase in demand” in some stations, sometimes causing “longer queues”, according to a spokesperson, who ensures adapting its deliveries to ensure supply.

“It’s as if we live in a third world country,” laments Emile Jomaa, a 66-year-old banking executive interviewed by AFP at a BP station in west London, where certain types of fuel are no longer available.

For Shane Kenneally, 38, the problem stems from Brexit, which has caused a shortage of workers “in all sectors”. “We should have thought about it, but this government has never anticipated,” plague this director of a landscaping company.

Faced with fears of shortages, Transport Minister Grant Shapps on Friday morning called on motorists to “act as usual” and not to carry out massive purchases under the effect of panic, which could worsen the situation.

– 100,000 missing drivers –

The pandemic, which has resulted in months of closure of training centers for new drivers, is the “main cause” of the shortage of drivers, a problem that plagues other countries, said Grant Shapps.

To attract more candidates, he encouraged higher wages and improved working conditions in this sector.

The pandemic has also prompted many foreign truck drivers to return to their country, and Brexit has complicated the arrival of new drivers from the European Union due to much more complex immigration formalities than before.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimates that the UK needs around 100,000 more truck drivers, a shortage that has created growing supply problems in recent weeks in supermarkets and large brands like Wetherspoon pubs, McDonalds or KFC fast food chains.

On Twitter, the general manager of the association Rod McKenzie, however, called for “not to panic”, ensuring that “things will just take a little longer to happen”.

According to the RHA, around 20,000 European truck drivers have left the UK since Brexit.

The Minister of Transport refused to explain the situation with Brexit which he said “actually provided part of the solution”: “Thanks to Brexit, I was able to change the law and change the way driving tests work, in a way that I could not have done if we were still part of the EU, “he said.

The government announced last month to change the rules to speed up the training of truck drivers.

The Federation of the Petroleum Industry of the United Kingdom (UKPIA) was also reassuring, saying “the fuel supply chain is resilient and (that) fuel is currently reaching the vast majority of consumers”.

Labor MP David Lammy has warned the government it faces “a winter of discontent” with staff and supply shortages.

pau / spe / gmo / lpt