3.27am EDT
03:27
Labour: fuel crisis down to government incompetence and handling of Brexit
Labour’s shadow home secretary has said the fuel shortage at petrol stations is down to the Government’s “utter incompetence” and its “handling of Brexit”.
Nick Thomas-Symonds was asked by Times Radio if Brexit was a factor in the crisis.
He replied:
“It is to do with the Government’s complete and utter incompetence.
“It is to do with the Government’s handling of Brexit and it is to do with the Government’s failure to plan over recent months. The blame lies squarely with them, it lies with no-one else.”
Yesterday, Germany’s front-runner to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor said the UK’s truck driver shortage was due to the end of freedom of movement after Brexit.
Olaf Scholz of the SPD party said:
“The free movement of labour is part of the European Union, and we worked very hard to convince the British not to leave the union.
“Now they decided different, and I hope that they will manage the problems coming from that, because I think it is constantly an important idea for all of us to make it happen that there will be good relations between the EU and the UK, but this is a problem to be solved.
(@richardpreston_)
Tomorrow’s @Guardian: Brexit to blame for UK’s fuel crisis, says frontrunner to succeed Merkel
o Read our story, by @danielboffey, @rowenamason and @GuardianHeather, here: https://t.co/koPxMH3aKG#TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/ciWkZ68cjH
3.12am EDT
03:12
Bloomberg: UK Fuel Panic Deepens the Pain in Crisis-Prone Economy
Businesses are warning that petrol shortages will hit them hard, if the problem isn’t resolved quickly.
Bloomberg says the shortages of petrol and diesel will have repercussions for the U.K.’s “crisis-prone” economy.
Sof Arnaoutis, the owner of Excel Plumbing and Heating Supplies in north London, told them yesterday that firm had already been struggling to get supplies from overseas because of a driver shortage. The fuel crisis is making that problem even worse.
“I’ve had two delivery guys bringing spare plumbing parts already cancel on me this morning,” said Arnaoutis. “I’ve probably got to cancel some upcoming deliveries this week, so I’ll be in trouble financially.”
I’ve been in business 30 years and this has only happened to me once before, in the mid-90s,” said Julian Stone, owner of the American Dry Cleaning Company, which has 45 stores around London and the south-east of England.
Just six out of 15 vans had enough petrol to operate on Monday, he said. The company has had to limit service because it can’t promise to return customers their clothes as soon as they want.
In a city that’s been transformed by the stay-at-home mandates of the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s not just the delivery of goods that’s become a vital part of economic activity. Many services are now delivered to people’s doors by entrepreneurs who rely on their vehicles.
“I’m a mobile personal trainer, I tend to go to my clients’ houses,” said Adam Knowles, who lives and works near Earlsfield in southwest London. His vehicle is essential for carrying equipment such as dumbbells or kettle-bells, but as of Monday morning he had no fuel. “If I don’t deliver those PT sessions, I don’t make any money,” he said.
3.10am EDT
03:10
Brent crude hits $80
Energy news: Brent crude has hit its highest level in three years, as the surge in oil prices threatens to push up costs for consumers and businesses.
A barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, has jumped to $80.50 per barrel this morning – a level not seen since 2018.
Analysts believe oil will continue to rise, as demand is strengthening and supplies remain tight.
(@youseftv)
? BOOM! We just crossed $80 a barrel for Brent crude oil for the first time since 2018; Goldman Sachs is now even talking about $90 by year-end. If sustained, that’s huge! #OOTT pic.twitter.com/Q9cXuadOmU
Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Think Markets, says:
Fears of an energy crisis in Europe are supporting oil prices that have been rising for seven days in a row, with Brent, the benchmark for crude oil, climbing above $80 per barrel.
The surge in gas prices has made oil a relatively cheaper substitute for power generation and hence its appeal has increased. Similarly, India, the second biggest importer of crude oil, has also ramped up its oil imports, to a three-month high in August, as refiners begin to stock up as they project higher demand going forward.
3.09am EDT
03:09
Introduction: Petrol crisis continues
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial crisis, the eurozone, business, and the UK’s supply chain crisis.
Britain has woken up to another day of disruption to fuel supplies, after problems shipping petrol and diesel to forecourts led to shortages and panic buying in recent days.
There are fears that vital services will be disrupted as the impact ripples through the economy.
Transport groups are already reporting problems on the roads again this morning, as queues at petrol stations with fuel for sale build up in the early morning rush.
Southdown buses, who operate in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, is warning of queues and delays.
(@southdownbuses)
?We are already seeing queues at various petrol stations across our network, this is likely to cause delays throughout the morning peak?
And there are problems on other roads as motorists try to fill up.
(@BBCTravelAlert)
Petrol station queues include the s/b A12 to the M25 Brook Street roundabout, the A41 s/b towards the M25 at Hunton Bridge, A1 at Stirling Corner, w/b A13 towards Lodge Avenue Flyover, A4127 towards the A40 Greenford roundabout, the A22 between Whyteleafe and Kenley.
(@martinmcgrath)
6:30am – leaving St Albans, queue for the petrol station by the Noke Hotel already almost back to the M25 junction and anger as someone tries to cut in.
“Don’t panic” does not, as yet, seem to be a message that’s cutting through https://t.co/R7wUR1cn8C
(@BBCSussex)
TRAVEL: #SELMESTON
A27 EASTBOUND
Reports of queues forming on approach to Selmeston petrol station.
(@SkyShuttleBuses)
S3 – EALING BROADWAY SERVICE UPDATE:
Traffic queues leading up to and from the Esso petrol station near South Ealing Station is already causing undue delays to the shuttle service this morning. pic.twitter.com/GmPXOLTQJn
Other petrol stations remain short of some grades of fuel, or are dry, as the industry struggles to ship fuel to forecourts fast enough.
(@BBCTravelAlert)
On the #M25, there’s no diesel available at #Cobham Services between #J9 Leatherhead and #J10 A3, there’s no fuel at all on the clockwise side at #Clacket Lane Services between #J5 A21 and #J6 #Godstone and no diesel on the #M40 at #J2 #Beaconsfield Services
Yesterday, the fuel industry said there was “plenty of fuel” at UK refineries and terminals, and that it expected demand “will return to its normal levels in the coming days”.
They’re hoping that demand will tail off after the weekend rush:
“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.
But many people are trying to get fuel for their normal activities, such as key workers in the health service. Pressure is growing on the government to give ambulance drivers, healthcare staff and other essential workers priority access to fuel.
The British Medical Association (BMA) warned that as pumps run dry “there is a real risk that NHS staff won’t be able to do their jobs”.
A midwife at a hospital in Surrey told the i newspaper that the situation was “infuriating”.
On Monday morning she was an hour late for work after trying five fuel stations on her way in from Brighton.
“NHS workers are on their knees. The workload is relentless and we do not have the extra capacity to search and stress for fuel to get to work. Who is prioritising key workers?”
Schools also fear that they could be forced to return to online teaching, if staff, pupils or suppliers can’t get onside.
Businesses are also warning of problems.
David Brown, chair of National Courier and Despatch Association, a trade body, said delivery companies were turning down jobs and telling workers to stay at home because of a lack of certainty around fuel supplies.
“It has been difficult,” he added (via the Financial Times)
“It has been frustrating for people who earn a living from driving.”
Yesterday, the government put army drivers on standby to help deliver petrol and diesel if needed – but stopped short of an immediate deployment
Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, said it was right for the government to take “sensible, precautionary steps”.
“The UK continues to have strong supplies of fuel. However, we are aware of supply chain issues at fuel station forecourts and are taking steps to ease these as a matter of priority,” he said. “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 localised demand for fuel.”
(@hendopolis)
TIMES; Army will be sent in to tackle fuel crisis #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/cmcJLaDzNk
The agenda
7am BST: German GfK consumer confidence survey
1.30pm BST: US house price index for July
3pm BST: US consumer confidence report for September
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish