Due to the shortage of truck drivers in the UK, some petrol stations were not supplied with enough fuel.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
London Massive delivery problems for gasoline and food are apparently forcing the government in Great Britain to make an abrupt U-turn. As the British media unanimously reported on Saturday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants to bring thousands of foreign truck drivers into the country with the help of exemptions in order to master the acute crisis.
The strict Brexit visa regulations are currently making the immigration of skilled workers more difficult, so that the logistics industry has come under even greater pressure.
Most recently, it became known that some energy companies were unable to supply dozens of gas stations. Sometimes long queues formed. It is these images that have led Johnson to rethink, as it is said in the British papers. “Boris is completely fed up with the bad headlines and wants it to be resolved, he no longer cares about visa rules,” the Financial Times quoted an “ally” Johnson as saying.
Business representatives were relieved. However, the industry association CBI warned the government against believing that the crisis could be solved with the help of a few thousand foreign drivers, especially as numerous industries complain of a shortage of skilled workers. “We don’t have trained butchers, we don’t have trained welders, we don’t have cooks, we don’t have electrical engineers, so there is a labor shortage across the economy,” CBI boss Tony Danker told the BBC.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
The government is demanding that companies hire and train more British workers and pay higher wages. Danker admitted necessary reforms, but criticized the government for its approach. “You can’t turn bag handlers into butchers or shopkeepers into cooks overnight,” he said.
Lack of skilled workers
The Road Haulage Association estimates that there is a shortage of around 100,000 truck drivers in the UK. That is why there were bottlenecks and empty supermarket shelves in many places. The energy companies BP and Esso were no longer able to supply some petrol stations with fuel due to the lack of drivers.
Other industries, such as meat manufacturers, also complain of a blatant shortage of skilled workers. Since Brexit, EU citizens moving to the UK for work have had to obtain expensive visas. The enormous increases in gas prices also have an impact on the supply, and hundreds of thousands of consumers are faced with higher bills.
The energy companies BP and Esso closed several dozen petrol stations, while others only offered petrol or diesel. The operator EG Group introduced an upper limit of 30 pounds (35 euros) per customer at the pumps. Cabinet members, sometimes in a shrill tone, called on the population to refrain from panic buying. “There is no shortage of fuel,” tweeted Culture Minister Nadine Dorries. “I repeat: THERE IS NO LACK OF FUEL !!”
There should be an upper limit for visa exceptions, which, according to information from Sky News, could be 5000. A government spokesman stressed that any regulation would be “very strictly limited”. The deputy leader of the opposition Labor Party, Angela Rayner, criticized the BBC for the fact that the government had put itself in this position because of its fatal decisions.
Experts also warned that foreign skilled workers might not find the planned regulation attractive at all. Because they would have to fear that they would have to leave the country again after a few months. Since numerous truck drivers are also wanted in the EU, the specialists could prefer a secure job in the international community.
More: Supply bottleneck looms – in Germany alone there is currently a shortage of 60,000 to 80,000 truck drivers