Britain puts military on standby, as fuel pump runs dry

On Sep 28, 2021

Britain put the army on standby to help with the ongoing fuel crisis as tanker driver’s panic over fuel pump running dry.

The department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy said in a statement on Monday that, “Limited number of military tanker drivers to be put on a state of readiness and deployed if necessary to further stabilize fuel supply chain.”

The British government says it is putting the military on standby as part of further measures to address a supply chain crisis which has led fuel pumps to run dry amid panic-buying by motorists.

The move happened as a result of widespread shortage of truck drivers, which has led to serious supply problems for retailers and restaurants in the past few months, plentiful stocks of fuel have not reached filling stations.

The government had already announced plans to issue temporary visas for 5,000 foreign truck drivers, suspend competition laws and entice former drivers back into the industry as part of measures to deal with the labour shortage.

It said it would now put a limited number of military tanker drivers on a state of readiness to be deployed if necessary.

The business minister, Kwasi Kwarteng said in a statement that, “While the fuel industry expects, demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, it’s right that we take this sensible, precautionary step.

“If required, the deployment of military personnel will provide the supply chain with additional capacity as a temporary measure to help ease pressures caused by spikes in localized demand for fuel.”

According to the government, the army tanker drivers will receive specialized training before deploying to help deal with supply chain issues.

“As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, we expect that demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, easing pressures on fuel station forecourts. We would encourage everyone to buy fuel as they usually would.”

Kamila/Reuters