HGV boss accused over leak behind fuel panic

Ministers point f inger at ex-BBC man who is a diehard Remainer

A FORMER BBC boss opposed to Brexit has been accused of triggering the petrol pump crisis.

Ministers say Rod McKenzie sparked the nationwide panic-buying frenzy by selectively leaking remarks made by a BP executive at a private Government meeting. Senior sources suggested he ‘weaponised’ the comments to deflect blame for the UK’s supply chaos.

Mr McKenzie, who ran BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat for more than two decades before joining the Road Haulage Association, last night denied the claim.

As managing director of policy for the RHA, he has blamed post-Brexit immigration restrictions for the crisis in the industry and has been leading calls for the Government to lift visa restrictions to allow more foreign drivers into the country.

The fuel crisis began to snowball last week after comments made by Hanna Hofer, head of BP’s retail business, at a Cabinet Office meeting were leaked. On September 16, Ms Hofer told civil servants, hauliers and other industry figures that the company had ‘two-thirds of normal forecourt stock levels’.

According to a senior Government source, however, she also said the situation had been ‘going on for weeks’ and that very few forecourts had had to close. Crucially, those additional comments – which Government insiders believe would have prevented or at least reduced the panic-buying of fuel – were not made public.

Mr McKenzie said he did not take part in the meeting and firmly denied that there was

‘Deal with them when this is over’

any direct evidence that he or anyone at the RHA leaked the selective remarks.

But a senior Government source said: ‘McKenzie will have been aware of Ms Hofer’s comments and had every incentive to weaponise them. The RHA leak every meeting they have with us. They have a rap sheet as long as their arm.

‘McKenzie is just a moaning Remainer and he and the RHA are entirely responsible for this panic and chaos.

‘We will deal with them when this is over.’

BP denied that any of its staff were behind the leak, with a spokesman saying it ‘would have been completely counterproductive’.

BP, Esso, Texaco and Shell last night introduced a £30 limit on fuel purchases after motorists were seen on forecourts filling multiple jerry cans.

Meanwhile, the Government announced up to 4,000 people will be trained as HGV drivers. Ministry of Defence examiners will be drafted in to increase capacity for those wanting to sit HGV tests, and almost a million letters will be sent to people who currently hold an HGV licence encouraging them to return to the industry.

The Department for Education is also investing up to £10million to create new ‘boot camps’ to train 3,000 more HGV drivers at short, intensive and free courses. In a fresh headache for the Government, however, Stanlow oil refinery in Ellesmere Port was last night locked in urgent talks to stave off financial collapse which could place further pressure on forecourts.

The company, which supplies about a sixth of Britain’s road fuel but has struggled during the pandemic, wants to strike a deal with HMRC to delay £223 million in tax payments.

Ministers are said to have rejected a bailout but are watching the situation closely, according to the Sunday Times. The refinery’s owner, Essar Oil UK, described talks with HMRC as ‘positive’.

The RHA claims around 20,000 European drivers have left the UK and blames ‘the uncertainty of Brexit and future rights to live and work in the UK’ for the situation.

It says the shortage of drivers could lead to empty shelves at supermarkets and spread to other industries including waste collection and over-thecounter medicine.

But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps insisted Brexit was ‘a relatively minor contributor to a problem in the UK that is replicated in Germany and even worse in Poland’.

He said leaving the EU ‘has enabled me to change the law to allow more HGV testing to take place’, adding: ‘Driver shortages are a pan-European problem so the situation here in the UK cannot be solved by relying for ever more on foreign labour.

‘Much of the world is witnessing post-pandemic turbulence

‘Can’t rely on foreign labour for ever more’

in supply chains caused by driver shortages. In the UK in recent months this manifested itself by the occasional pump missing a particular grade of fuel – say super-unleaded for half a day. However, what we have seen over the past couple of days is panic-buying that we must ensure doesn’t turn a very limited problem into a far bigger one.’

Despite fewer than 100 of the UK’s 8,350 filling stations running out of fuel, there were sporadic scenes of violence yesterday as motorists continued to ignore pleas for them not to panic-buy.