It was reported that initially 75 drivers would be given additional training to enable them to drive tankers, with a further 75 available if required. “If required, the deployment of military personnel will provide the supply chain with additional capacity as a temporary measure to help ease pressures caused by spikes in localised demand for fuel,” he said. However Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, who issued the Military Aid to the Civil Authorities request on Monday, said putting troops on readiness to assist was a “sensible, precautionary step”. The Government had been hoping the queues would ease as people returned to more normal buying patterns. “So, it has actually worked in both ways.” © Provided by Evening StandardĪ sign advising customers to only fill up with 30 litres of fuel and that no diesel is available stands outside a Shell petrol station in Aldershot, Hampshire (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire) On the other hand it has actually helped us to change rules to be able to test more drivers more quickly,” he said. However, he acknowledged that Brexit – which had cut off the supply of foreign drivers – has had an impact. The Transport Secretary said the primary cause of the crisis had been the pandemic which had led to the cancellation of 30,000 HGV tests last year resulting in a shortage of qualified drivers. “Unfortunately, as we have seen with toilet rolls and other things, once people start to pursue a particular item it can quickly escalate.” “The system was just about coping until last weekend and it would have been capable of continuing to do so. Grant Shapps said there were tentative signs the situation was beginning to stabilise (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)
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“There is a series of escalations that you go through in a crisis like this,” he said. Mr Shapps, however, rejected claims they should have begun troops to start delivering supplies sooner. That will help ease the pressure on shortages of course, it will return public confidence.” “I believe the Army should not just be put on standby but in fact mobilised, be seen to be used. “Simply hoping this situation will return to normal is not a strategy,” he told Sky News.
With reports of fights breaking out on forecourts amid mounting frustration, the chairman of the Commons Defence Committee Tobias Ellwood said the Government needed to show it had a clear plan for dealing with the crisis. © Provided by Evening Standardįilling stations continue to run dry (Steve Parsons/PA) (PA Wire) There is still a bit of panic buying, there is still queuing but we are hopeful that we are seeing the first signs of a move towards equilibrium later in the week,” he told Sky News. The chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), Brian Madderson, said that while demand was down from the “extreme” levels seen at the weekend, it was still “well above the norm”.įilling stations were continuing to run dry with some of the big groups down to around 50% of their sites. “As the industry said yesterday, the sooner we can all return to our normal buying habits, the sooner the situation will return to normal.” “But it is the first time that we have seen more petrol actually in the petrol stations. “There are now the first very tentative signs of stabilisation in forecourt storage which won’t be reflected in the queues as yet,” he said. He admitted, however, that it would take time before the pressure on the forecourts began to ease. In a pooled clip for broadcasters, Mr Shapps said there were the first “very tentative” signs that the situation was beginning to stabilise with more fuel reaching filling stations. However he acknowledged that Brexit had “no doubt” been a factor in the current problems with a continuing shortage of lorry drivers. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said that ordering troops to begin preparing to take on deliveries was the 18th separate measure take by the Government since the spring to alleviate pressure on supplies. The Government announced on Monday it was putting troops on standby to drive petrol tankers as filling stations in many parts of the country continued to run dry.īut with anger building at the long queues faced by motorists, some senior Tories urged the Government to go further and start actively using the military to restore public confidence. Ministers have rejected criticism that Boris Johnson failed to mobilise the Army quickly enough as the fuel crisis showed little sign of abating.
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