UK ignites army against fuel crisis

British military personnel in combat fatigues arrived at a BP warehouse on Monday (4) after the government ordered the army to help distribute fuel to address a critical shortage of truck drivers, a Reuters reporter reported.

All UK supply chains, from pork and poultry to petrol, medicine and milk, are on the verge of collapse due to labor shortages caused by Brexit and the pandemic.

Impulsive fuel purchases, amid a shortage of truck drivers, sparked scenes of chaos in major cities last week, with long lines of drivers. Some exchanged punches at the pumps, while others stored fuel in old water bottles.

“As a precaution, we are calling for additional drivers,” British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak told LBC Radio.

“The situation is getting better now, I think, for more than a week every day is getting better, and with demand returning to more normal levels, the high expectations are that things will work out.”

Reuters reporters said they saw at least two dozen gas stations still closed in London and southern England. Drivers were still lining up outside the open gas stations.

The Petroleum Retailers Association said about 22 percent of gas stations in the British capital and the southeast were still running out of fuel, and its chief executive, Gordon Palmer, said it could take anywhere from a week to 10 days for stocks to return to normal.