The British have not yet stopped stockpiling gasoline. Something the government called for yesterday. Oil company BP has announced that a third of its pumps are nearing the end of their gasoline supply. Boris Johnson is considering deploying military personnel to supply gas stations.
“Operation Escalin” is the name of the crisis plan Boris Johnson is considering today. Johnson called on the most important members of his government to consider deploying several hundred soldiers to supply depleted petrol pumps.
In addition to BP, Shell also sees gasoline stocks at its filling stations dwindling. The Gasoline Retailers Association reports that 50 to 90 percent of its 5,500 stations are running out.
Gasoline rush
There has been a rush for gasoline in Britain for several days now. There are long queues in front of gas stations with motorists who want to quickly fill their fuel tank or container, before it becomes impossible. The reason behind the rush is not an actual fuel shortage, but a distribution problem. Because of Brexit, many truck drivers have left the country, making supplies difficult. The British Transport Association states that there are no fewer than 100,000 vacancies to be filled.
NODESA
That’s reason enough for Boris Johnson to issue 5,000 temporary emergency visas to European truck drivers. According to the transport sector, this is very little. An FNV representative, Edwin Attima, told the BBC today that he did not expect to bite many truck drivers. According to the FNV member, working conditions in Great Britain are very poor for this.
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Meanwhile, the British government is doing everything in its power to avoid panic. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps called on British motorists this weekend to be “reasonable”. “It’s not that we don’t have gasoline in the country,” the minister said. Sky News. “The most important thing is for people to refuel as they normally do. Then there are no queues and no shortage of the pump.”
At the moment, the British are not really listening to this message. Reason for Johnson to now consider deploying the military. The military is currently being deployed to speed up the training of people to become truck drivers.
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