Petrol driver shortage: Ministers discuss supply issues

24 September 2021

Senior ministers have met to discuss supply problems at petrol stations across the country.

Cabinet office, transport and environment department heads all took part.

A small number of petrol stations have been affected, and ministers say people should carry on buying petrol normally.

Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC nothing was being ruled out to help deliver petrol from refineries to stations.

Some ministers believe a temporary work visa scheme to bring more HGV lorry drivers into the UK from the European Union would help.

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Supply chain crisis: Tories poised to U-turn on foreign worker visas

Boris Johnson believed to have overruled ministers unwilling to compromise on post-Brexit immigration as forecourt queues mount

Rowena Mason and Rob Davies
Fri 24 Sep 2021 17.53 BST

Ministers are poised to agree an extraordinary post-Brexit U-turn that would allow foreign lorry drivers back into the UK to stave off shortages threatening fuel and food supplies.

Boris Johnson ordered a rapid fix on Friday to prevent the crisis escalating. Ministers met in an attempt to agree a short-term visa scheme permitting potentially thousands more lorry drivers from abroad to come to the UK.

The prime minister is understood to have weighed in to demand a compromise from his warring cabinet, which was split over the issue, after scenes of chaotic queues at some petrol stations and warnings from suppliers that the shortage of fuel on forecourts could worsen.

The shortage of up 100,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers – exacerbated by the pandemic and Brexit – has also impacted the food sector and other industries. The British Retail Consortium warned on Friday that significant disruption to Christmas was “inevitable” unless the problem was contained in the next 10 days.

The prime minister and his cabinet have publicly played down the extent of the problem. A senior government source said some ministers appeared keen to avoid the perception that Brexit was to blame, and were therefore reluctant to relax immigration rules.

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