A severe shortage of workers, including lorry drivers, has recently sparked a “supply chain crisis” in the UK that continues to intensify. This has led to severe shortages in supplies of household goods, finished gasoline and natural gas.

Up to 90 percent of petrol stations in major British cities have sold out and there has been panic buying, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Retailers warned that the crisis could hit one of the world’s leading economies. Industry insiders and the British government have repeatedly reminded people that there is no shortage of fuel, just a shortage of transport manpower, not panic buying.

The shortage of lorry drivers in the UK comes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit, which threatens to exacerbate disruptions and soaring prices in the run-up to Christmas as supply chains in everything from food to fuel are disrupted.

Some European politicians have linked Britain’s recent shortage of drivers and a “supply chain crisis” to the country’s exit from the EU and its estrangement from the bloc. Government officials, however, blame the coronavirus pandemic for the lack of training and testing for tens of thousands of lorry drivers.

Screenshot of Reuters report

The move comes just days after Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government spent millions of pounds to tackle food shortages caused by soaring gas prices, Reuters reported.

However, on September 26, petrol stations across the UK were forced to close as long queues formed and supplies were snapped up. By September 27, gas stations in cities across the country were either closed or had “no fuel” signs, Reuters reporters observed.

On September 25, local time, a gas station in the UK displayed a sign saying “sold out”. Photo from thepaper.cn

“It’s not that there’s a shortage of petrol, it’s a severe shortage of HGV drivers who can transport it and that’s hitting the UK supply chain.” According to a report by the Guardian on September 24, a shortage of lorry drivers in the UK is causing difficulties in transporting finished petrol, and manpower shortages are made worse by special qualifications needed to transport dangerous substances such as petrol.

Screenshots of the Guardian report

The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents independent fuel retailers, said its members were reporting that in some areas between 50 and 90 per cent of pumps were dry.

Gordon Balmer, executive director of the PRA, who worked for BP for 30 years, said: “Unfortunately, we are seeing panic buying of fuel in many parts of the COUNTRY.”

“We need to stay calm.” ”Please don’t panic buy, if people run out of fuel systems then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for us,” Mr Ballmer said.

George Eustice, the Environment secretary, said there was no shortage of fuel and urged people to stop panic buying, adding that there were no plans for military personnel to drive the trucks but that the military would help train test truck drivers.

It comes after Grant Shapps, the transport minister, told the BBC in an interview on September 24 that the UK was suffering from a shortage of lorry drivers, despite having “plenty of petrol” in its refineries. He also urged people not to panic buy. “People should continue to buy gasoline as they normally do,” he said. A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson also said earlier this week that Britain does not have a fuel shortage.

A supply chain crisis has led to fuel shortages and long queues outside petrol stations in the UK as a result of a severe shortage of lorry drivers on September 24, 2021. Photo from thepaper.cn

Supermarkets, processors and farmers in the UK have been warning for months that a shortage of heavy truck drivers is straining supply chains to “breaking point”, leaving many goods off shelves, Reuters noted.

It follows a period in which some food supplies in the UK have also been affected by delivery disruptions. Ian Wright, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation trade association, said Labour shortages in the UK’s food supply chain were severely affecting the country’s food and drink manufacturers and “we urgently need the UK government to carry out a full investigation of the situation to understand the most pressing issues”.

Britons are suffering from shortages of everything from chicken to milkshakes to mattresses, not just petrol, the Guardian said.

London (Reuters) – Some shelves of supermarkets in London were left empty on September 20 as Labour shortages and rising energy prices tightened supplies. Photo from thepaper.cn

With cold weather on the horizon, some European politicians have linked the UK’s recent “supply chain pressures” to its 2016 bid to leave the EU and its determination to distance itself from the BLOC.

“The free movement of Labour is part of the EU and we tried very hard to persuade Britain not to leave the EU,” Scholz, the Social Democratic Party’s candidate for chancellor, who is campaigning for Germany’s presidential election, was quoted as saying. Their decision is different from what we had in mind, and I hope they can resolve the issues that arise.”

Ministers insist the current shortage has nothing to do with Brexit, with some 25,000 returning to Europe before brexit, but more than 40,000 unable to train and test during the coronavirus lockdown.

On September 26th the British government announced plans to grant temporary visas to 5,000 foreign lorry drivers. Edwin Atema, head of research for the Road transport programme at the Dutch trade union Federation FNV, told the BBC that EU drivers were unlikely to flock to the UK given what was on offer.

“The EU workers we speak to are not going to the UK to apply for short-term visas to help the country out of a trap of their own making.” ”Atema said.