Boris Johnson today admitted Britain’s HGV chaos could last until Christmas in an astonishing TV interview.
The Prime Minister repeatedly tried to avoid saying if he agreed with chancellor Rishi Sunak, who previously refused to rule out shelf shortages continuing past the festive season.
When asked if the UK Government could save Christmas, the Chancellor told the Daily Mail: “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.”
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Questioned this morning by the BBC's Andrew Marr Show today, the PM said: “Rishi is right invariably in everything that he says, but what you’re seeing is a… it depends how you interpret what he’s saying.”
And Johnson repeatedly refused to rule out the shortages continuing past Christmas, adding: “What you’ve got at the moment is a shortage of lorry drivers, shortage of truck drivers that’s affecting the whole world - there’s even a shortage of truck drivers in China. There’s a shortage in America and in Poland.
"When you look at the particular issue for petrol forecourts, there you’ve got a problem that actually now is largely driven by demand….
“We’re making sure we have the supplementary drivers if necessary.”
His comments come as military drivers prepare to take to the roads for the first time on Monday in support of the operation to keeping filling stations supplied.
Around 100 trained drivers with an additional 100 support troops are due to be deployed over the coming week, despite repeated assurances by ministers the situation is “stabilising”.
The Petrol Retailers Association has welcomed the move – described by the Prime Minister as a “precaution” – but warned it will have a limited impact given the relatively small numbers involved.
It urged ministers to ensure supplies are prioritised on those areas where the shortages are most acute – most notably London and the South East, which have continued to see long queues at the pumps.
In contrast, the situation in Scotland, the north of England and the Midlands is reported to be easing with supplies returning to normal.
Critics have blamed Covid for permanently changing the HGV driver market, and Brexit for labelling EU drivers as “unskilled” and cutting off a supply of labour.
The UK Government has offered 5,000 short-term visas for EU-based lorry drivers to work for UK firms, but refused calls to go further.
Mr Johnson instead demanded haulage firms pay more to attract British workers.
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