28 September 2021 - Fuel shortage in the UK
Fuel crisis: How can shortages be resolved?
(Channel 4 News, 27/09/2021)
If people stop buying fuel when they don't need it, there wouldn't be a shortage - that's the message ministers have been pressing home amid yet more scenes of queues at some petrol stations, and others running dry altogether.
Boris Johnson puts army on standby amid fuel supply crisis
Rowena Mason, Aubrey Allegretti, Dan Sabbagh, and Richard Partington (The Guardian, 27/09/2021)
Boris Johnson has ordered the army to remain on standby to help fuel reach petrol stations hit by panic buying, as Keir Starmer and businesses called on him to get a grip on the shortages rippling across the economy.
No 10 said army drivers would be ready to help deliver petrol and diesel on a short-term basis, but stopped short of an immediate deployment, even though some essential workers have not been able to carry out their jobs without fuel.
Fuel crisis: Calls for key workers to be prioritised - but who should be front of the queue?
(Sky News, 27/09/2021)
The government is facing calls to prioritise essential workers as some petrol supplies run dry amid impacts of a shortage of lorry drivers.
Long queues were reported overnight and some petrol brands are seeing as many as 90% of their sites running dry, according to the Petrol Retailers Association.
Fuel crisis: London bears brunt of shortage
Jonathan Prynn (Evening Standard, 27/09/2021)
Thousands of Londoners including teachers and doctors were forced to work from home on Monday as the capital bore the brunt of the “shambolic” fuel crisis.
Retailers said that up to 90 per cent of their outlets in and around London were out of petrol and diesel after a six-fold surge in demand from drivers over the weekend. Ministers were holding more meetings on Monday in a bid to halt the run on the pumps and allow supplies to recover.
Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “The most important thing is that people just buy petrol as they normally would. There isn’t a shortage. There does come a time when things settle down, people get used to it and return to life as normal again. The quicker people do that the better. The only reason we don’t have petrol in forecourts is that people are buying petrol when they don’t need it.”