Boris Johnson has laid low for the five days since the petrol crisis began in the UK. The official line was that there was no crisis with the supply of petrol and that stocks at refineries were normal. Instead there was a minor issue getting the petrol to the pumps. The blame has been put on the shoulders of those who rushed out to panic buy, filling their tanks when they would not normally do so.
Boris finally tells the public, "fill up in the normal way and the crisis will end". He says there are signs that the situation is improving.
It is widely accepted that there is a shortage of about 100,000 HGV drivers in the UK.
The army are now being called in to help. However, I doubt their 150 drivers will make a huge impact but every little bit helps. Simple logic tells you that it will take weeks not days for the situation to improve. Even if there was a plentiful supply of drivers, they could not restock all the garages in a matter of days.
Other measures like extending visas for 5,000 foreign drivers, offering more HGV tests and slimming down the testing process have been muted but these are perhaps more long term than immediate solutions.
The shortage of petrol at filling stations is only one area that is effected by the lack of qualified drivers. Empty shelves in supermarkets show that all deliveries have been cut and will continue to be cut in the run up to Christmas.
Of course, this is not a crisis that has happened overnight. It was recognised back in 2017 that there was a shortage of HGV drivers but at that time Brexit took precedence and so the issue was left unresolved.
The real crisis, in my opinion, is that very few people trust Johnson and his ministers any more. He has told so many lies over the past that people just ignore him when they can clearly see that his version of the truth is different to the reality before them.
1 comment:
The country is on its knees, Keith. I will never forgive them for what they have done to us. Leaving the EU was the craziest thing any government has ever done, based on lies and deceit. How gullible can an electorate be? It has opened the door for the latent racism which has since shown itself in so many ways. From telling migrants to 'go hime', attacks on mosques and football crowds booing 'taking the knee'.
We turned on 'Countdown' on Monday (or 'Dumbed-downed as my wife and I cal it now that Ann Robinson has taken over) and was shocked to see Stanley Johnson in dictionary corner giving free publicity to his son. Apparently, it was the proudest moment of his life when Boris was 'elected' PM. Johnson Snr is an elitist who has given us the worst PM in living memory. I am an European through and through and thoroughly ashamed of the county of my birth.
I
Post a Comment