Military drivers will be deployed to deliver fuel to forecourts in the UK from Monday as the crisis at the pumps continues.
Almost 200 military personnel, including 100 drivers, have been training at haulier sites and will start deliveries to help relieve the situation at petrol stations, which UK ministers insist is stabilising.
The British government also announced that a temporary visa scheme for nearly 5,000 foreign food haulage drivers, which was due to expire on December 24th, will be extended to the end of February, following criticism of its attractiveness to drivers.
It comes as opposition parties raised the prospect of a parliamentary recall to address wider labour shortages and supply chain disruption.
The UK’s Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said the temporary visa scheme would not be up and running “for weeks”, and added that Prime Minister Boris Johnson should, if necessary, recall Parliament to rush through legislation to ensure the shelves remain stocked in the run-up to Christmas.
The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said Mr Johnson “must immediately recall Parliament and convene cross-party talks to set out steps to effectively tackle the Brexit crisis”.
He added: “The severe labour shortages, soaring costs, empty supermarket shelves, ongoing fuel crisis and trading barriers are all inflicting serious and lasting harm.”
It was announced on Friday evening that 300 fuel tanker drivers would be able to come to the UK from overseas “immediately” under a bespoke temporary visa which will last until March.
Some 4,700 other visas intended for foreign food haulage drivers will be extended beyond the initially announced three months and will last from late October to the end of February.
A total of 5,500 poultry workers will also be allowed in to help keep supermarket shelves stocked with turkeys before Christmas.
The UK Government has said these workers, who can arrive from late October, will be able to stay up to December 31st under the temporary visa scheme.
It also said the visas will not be a long-term solution and it wants employers to invest in the domestic workforce instead of relying on overseas labour.
It said it is also working with the industry to find long-term solutions to the shortage of HGV drivers and to encourage more people to enter the logistics sector by improving pay and conditions.
‘Really big problem’
The UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the fuel situation is “stabilising” in most parts of the country and the military is being deployed as a “precaution”.
He told Sky News on Saturday morning: “I think it is right that as a precaution that the Government has asked the military to help. I think that is the right measure to take to make sure that people have all the confidence that they need.
“I think that will further stabilise the situation and give more confidence.”
But the chairman of the Petrol Retailers Association said fuel shortages are getting worse in some parts of the country.
Brian Madderson said it remains a “really big problem” in London and the South East.
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: “In London and the South East and possibly parts of eastern England, if anything it had got worse.”
Mr Madderson welcomed the announcement that military drivers are to be deployed from Monday, but warned it will have a limited impact.
“This isn’t going to be the major panacea,” he said. “It’s a large help but in terms of the volume, they are not going to be able to carry that much.
“We do need a prioritisation of deliveries to filling stations — particularly the independent ones which are the neighbourhood retail sites — in London and the South East starting immediately.”
He said rising world oil prices mean motorists should expect higher prices at the pumps when filling stations are resupplied.
“Expect anything from 1, 2 or even 3p a litre increases at the pump. This is not profiteering. This is genuine wholesale price increases caused by global factors.”
The UK Government has said there is no national fuel shortage, but Chancellor Rishi Sunak told the Daily Mail there is global disruption to supply chains in other industries.
He told the paper: “These shortages are very real. We’re seeing real disruptions in supply chains in different sectors, not just here but around the world.
“We are determined to do what we can to try to mitigate as much of this as we can.
“As you can imagine there’s an enormous amount of focus on this from the Government because we know how important this is. My kids will be very upset with me if there isn’t a proper Christmas.”
The Financial Times reported millions of British Christmas dinners will be saved by turkeys being imported, after the chief executive of the British Poultry Council, Richard Griffiths, told the paper the country’s big producers had reduced consumption by about a fifth this year because Brexit had cut off their supply of cheap labour.
A turkey farmer told the paper imported birds are likely to come from France and Poland. –PA