Johnson mulls calling in army as pumps run dry

LONDON. – The British government is said to be considering whether to call in soldiers to deliver fuel to petrol stations as pumps ran dry after days of panic buying.

Emergency measures were triggered on Sunday evening, with Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng choosing to suspend competition laws for the fuel industry to allow suppliers to target filling stations running low.

Multiple reports suggested that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will today mull whether to follow that by taking the drastic step of sending in the Army to drive oil tankers as “frenzied buying” added to fuel supply issues caused by a lack of HGV drivers.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has refused to rule out requesting military assistance after queues for the pumps continued across the country on the weekend.

Shapps has already backed down over his reluctance to import foreign labour to solve the HGV driver shortage by creating 5,000 three-month visas to bring in extra hauliers to address delivery pressures.

The Cabinet minister told the BBC the move would fix the “100 to 200” fuel tanker driver shortfall, as he urged motorists to be “sensible” and only fill up when needed to help alleviate the queues.

Long waits at filling stations saw police called to a scuffle at a north London forecourt as motorists continued their panic buying which was sparked after concerns from BP were leaked to the media that the lorry driver shortage could impact its ability to keep up with fuel deliveries.

The government had resisted offering more visas for months, despite an estimated shortage of about 100,000 truck drivers and industry warnings from various sectors that the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit had combined to worsen the situation.

The government said in the longterm British workers should be trained to fill driving jobs as it called on transport companies to improve pay and working conditions.

The lack of truck drivers has also hit British factories, restaurants and supermarkets in recent months.

The shortage has harmed supply chains, making it challenging to get goods to market, and driven fears of price rises in the run-up to Christmas.

The surge in demand led the Petrol Retailers Association ( PRA) to warn that as many as two-thirds of its membership of nearly ,500 independent outlets were out of fuel on Sunday, with the rest of them “partly dry and running out soon”.

Worry over depleted stocks led the Business Secretary to act following a meeting with oil companies and retailers on Sunday.

Kwarteng opted to temporarily exempt the industry from the Competition Act to allow the industry to share information so it can target areas where fuel supply is running low. – Agencies