UK panic fuel buy raises fears doctors and teachers won’t get to work

Calls are being made for key UK workers to have priority access to fuel, as the panic buying of gasoline across the country continues.

It is estimated that the UK is currently short of around 100,000 heavy truck drivers, which has disrupted deliveries and limited supplies of goods and fuel.

In recent days, motorists have lined up in long lines outside gas stations, often only to find that there was no gasoline available.

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) estimated on Monday that up to 90% of gas stations across the country were dry.

On Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said the situation was starting to stabilize.

“A lot of gasoline is now being transferred to people’s cars and there are now the first very timid signs of stabilization in the forecourt storage which will not be reflected in the queues yet, but this is the first time. that we are seeing more gasoline in the gas stations themselves, ”he told Sky News.

However, lineups and gas station closures were still raging on Tuesday.

Some fear that essential workers – such as those in the health and social services sectors – may not be able to get to work soon. Dr Chaand Nagpaul, president of the British Medical Association, urged the UK government to give healthcare workers priority access to fuel.

He stressed that emergency and essential workers depend on fuel both to get to work and for the job itself. “Everyone will have their own reasons for needing to refuel, but as the pumps dry up there is a real risk that the NHS [National Health Service] staff will not be able to do their jobs and provide life-saving care and services to those in urgent need, ”he said in a statement Monday.

The doctor-led campaign group EveryDoctor has also called for action to be taken to ensure that key workers can access the fuel. “It is time for the government to share responsibility for the well-being of our patients by prioritizing fuel for key workers,” Dr. Julia Grace Patterson, CEO of EveryDoctor, told CNBC.

Meanwhile, Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said the continuing shortages are expected to cause “serious difficulties for the provision of education.”

“For many teachers, using public transport is just not an option,” he said in a statement on Monday. “The government must urgently consider making teachers a priority group for access to locally available gasoline and diesel. Without such intervention, many teachers will find it difficult to get to their workplace on time.

However, not everyone is convinced that reserving fuel for certain people is a good idea.

Joe Armitage, senior UK policy analyst at Global Counsel, said the government needs to make sure people can buy the fuel they need, “but without any drastic limits or reserving particular service stations for workers. keys “.

“It creates more complexity, [and] you often only have one staff member at each gas station – I don’t think the practicality is viable for that, ”he told CNBC’s“ Squawk Box Europe ”on Tuesday.

Despite motorists’ struggle to access gas, government ministers insisted the UK has a significant supply of fuel and urged consumers to buy it normally.

But on Monday evening, Britain’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy confirmed that a limited number of military tanker drivers will be put on standby and deployed if necessary to help stabilize the supply chain.

“While the fuel industry expects demand to return to normal levels in the coming days, it is only right that we take this reasonable precautionary step,” Business Minister Kwasi Kwarteng said in a statement. .

“If necessary, the deployment of military personnel will provide the supply chain with additional capacity as a temporary measure to help alleviate pressures caused by spikes in localized fuel demand.”

The government also announced Monday that drivers with ADR licenses – which allow them to carry dangerous goods like fuel – will be able to extend their license until January if they are due to expire before the end of the year.

On Sunday, Kwarteng exempted the fuel industry from UK competition laws, which he said would allow companies to “share information and prioritize delivering fuel to areas most in need.” Meanwhile, thousands of truck drivers are expected to get temporary visas in the UK as Christmas approaches.

In a survey by the UK’s Road Haulage Association in June, Brexit was named the leading cause of the driver shortage by more than 600 participants, with 58% of respondents citing Britain’s departure from the EU as the reason for the decrease in numbers.

Meanwhile, a May report from thinktank Driver Require said the industry “had relied heavily on EU heavy-duty truck drivers to avoid a supply crisis in the event of a rapid increase in demand.” , and claimed that Brexit had “alienated workers from the EU”.

Asked by Channel 4 News on Monday whether he would send truck drivers to Britain to help ease the fuel crisis in the UK, newly elected German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said free movement of workers was “part of the European Union”.

“We have worked very hard to convince the British not to leave. They have decided differently, and I hope they will deal with the problems that arise,” he said, adding that it was important to maintain good relations between the UK and the EU.

Meanwhile, Michel Barnier, the EU’s former Brexit negotiator, told BBC Newsnight on Monday that the Union’s “main asset” was its single market, adding that the UK “has to cope to the consequences of Brexit “.

However, Brexit is not the only contributing factor. The Covid-19 pandemic prompted many foreign workers to leave the UK, many of whom have not returned. Changes to labor regulations have also taken some of the blame for the exacerbation of the driver shortage.

The closure of professional driving tests during closures has meanwhile prevented people from qualifying to become heavy truck drivers. According to the RHA, only 15,000 people managed to complete their training in 2020, 25,000 fewer than the previous year.

The RHA also pointed out in a July report that the average age of heavy truck drivers in the UK is 55, of whom less than 1% are under 25. Many drivers took early retirement or found work in “less demanding industries” during the pandemic, the organization said.

Some UK employers have reportedly offered wages of up to £ 70,000 ($ 95,750) per year to heavy truck drivers, with membership bonuses of £ 2,000.