Plans for the Army to help ease fuel crisis
Johnson to decide whether military will be drafted in to drive petrol tankers
BORIS JOHNSON will today decide whether to sign off on plans to draft in the Army to help tackle Britain’s mounting fuel crisis.
Ministers yesterday discussed proposals to trigger Operation Escalin – under which “several hundred” soldiers would be brought in to drive petrol tankers – and are due to formally present the plans to the Prime Minister today.
It comes after they were shown government figures which suggested that petrol stations across most of England had average stock levels below 20 per cent – enough for just one to two days.
While there is no shortage of fuel in the country, there have been problems getting it to filling stations because of a lack of HGV drivers. Fewer deliveries and panic buying have led to pumps running dry. Between 1,500 and 2,000 filling stations are believed to have run out of at least one type of fuel, with long queues seen at forecourts across the country over the weekend.
On Saturday night, an ambulance was involved in a collision after trying to manoeuvre past a queue at a Shell garage in Bromley, south-east London, and other collisions and fights were reported across the country.
The Telegraph understands that the Prime Minister will hold a series of meetings today, during which he will be presented with the option to trigger Operation Escalin.
The plans are under “active consideration”, said a government source.
Should the operation go ahead, Mr Johnson is also likely to release the Government’s reserve fleet of petrol tankers, which are thought to comprise several dozen owned by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The measures are part of the National Emergency Plan for Fuel, which was last updated by the Government in January last year.
Another of the proposals in the plan is the relaxation of competition laws.
Last night Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, announced that the Government would temporarily suspend the rules, in a step known as The Downstream Oil Protocol. It enables fuel suppliers to share resources to prevent pumps running dry.
A similar relaxation was introduced for supermarkets in response to panic buying in stores at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, which enabled them to share staff and alternate the days they open. Last night, Mr Kwarteng said: “We have long-standing contingency plans in place to work with industry so that fuel supplies can be maintained and deliveries can still be made in the event of a serious disruption. While there has always been and continues to be plenty of fuel at refineries and terminals, we are aware that there have been some issues with supply chains.”
While Downing Street has insisted no decisions have yet been taken on whether to use the military, if enacted, Operation Escalin would see “several hundred” soldiers mobilised to drive petrol tankers, with the first expected to take to the road 10 days after the goahead
‘We have long-standing contingency plans in place to work with industry so fuel supplies can be maintained’
is given. However, industry leaders are said to be worried it will take too long to train the military drivers, who would not know how to unload the fuel from the tankers.
The Telegraph understands that the proposal was discussed at an unscheduled cross-whitehall meeting at midday yesterday, which was hastily arranged at midnight on Saturday in response to the deteriorating situation.
It was chaired by Stephen Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister, with Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, and Mr Kwarteng also dialling in.
Mr Johnson has already agreed to provide 5,000 temporary visas for European HGV drivers, with the MOD also releasing military examiners to speed up the testing of new British drivers.
However, The Telegraph has also been told that the visas, which will be time-limited, are not due to come online for a fortnight, although the Home Office insisted yesterday that eligible drivers could be fast-tracked.
The Government is hopeful that the surge in demand will subside as soon as Friday as many motorists will already have filled up their tanks by then.
Ministers have called for calm, and Mr Shapps reiterated that the crisis was entirely “manufactured” by people panic buying.
COMPANIES are under pressure to allow staff to work from home instead of driving into the office, after a weekend of panic buying at petrol forecourts across the UK.
Business groups and trade unions said workers could be delayed or left stranded by a lack of fuel, and warned that travelling into the office unnecessarily risked worsening the crisis.
“We need to ensure emergency and community services are properly resourced as a priority and that employers allow more flexibility on working from home to reduce the strain on this avoidable crisis,” said Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union.
“The run on the forecourts is unnecessarily affecting front-line workers in our ambulance and home care services and the rising cost of energy will cause distress for the lowest paid households trying to make ends meet.”
Kate Bell, the head of economics at the Trades Union Congress, said flexibility over home working was needed as pumps run dry.
“This could make journeys to work harder for some people,” she said.
“Employers should be flexible and allow home working where possible if staff find it a struggle to get in.”
The calls come as many office workers were only just returning to their workplaces, after almost 18 months largely working from home.
Richard Holden, the Conservative MP for North West Durham, said that the fuel crisis must not derail the return to normality. “This is a temporary issue which will be resolved shortly. Getting Britain back to work, which is a good thing for our country and economy, must happen now,” he said.
“I cannot understand why some unions want to risk Britain’s recovery as we return from the pandemic. It sounds to me like Labour’s biggest paymasters are trying to play politics with people’s jobs and our economy.”
The British Chambers of Commerce said more home working can only be a short-term measure as the Government must fix the crisis. “Employers will of course be flexible where possible if the current difficulties with fuel are imparting on employees’ ability to get to work, but it is vital that Government delivers a long-term fix to the issue as soon as possible,” said Claire Walker, the coexecutive director of the group.
“Many people in important professions such as care workers and food production staff simply cannot work from home, so a comprehensive response is urgently needed to ensure our economy keeps moving.”
However, David D’souza, the membership director of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said businesses will be expected to offer flexibility to help workers and the wider economy, building on the experience of the pandemic.
“It’s important that fuel is kept for those who most need it. Whilst the logistical issues continue we expect organisations to offer or suggest working from home for those who are able. If staff must be on site, and can only attend using public transport, employers may need to bring some flexibility to working hours to accommodate this,” he said.
“The enforced change to working from home caused by the pandemic has introduced significantly more flexibility into many organisations, helping them respond to complex situations more quickly.
“As with anything impacting travel and infrastructure, employers that have the flexibility to offer working from home arrangements are at an advantage – as are their staff.”
Working from home has contributed to the fuel crisis, as officials at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency are barred from processing “vocational” licences, including all applications for full HGV licences, unless they are in the office. This has led to a backlog, which has added to the shortage of lorry drivers. The lack of drivers prompted the warnings about fuel supply to filling stations, which then sparked panic buying.
‘We need to ensure emergency and community services are properly resourced and that employers allow more flexibility on working from home to reduce the strain’