The Ministry of Defence has put around 150 military tanker drivers on “short notice” to deliver fuel – and has another 150 personnel to support them, despite Boris Johnson’s insistence that Britain’s fuel crisis is improving.
It is understood that, if deployed, the drivers would need training, which could take two to five days.
On Tuesday afternoon, the prime minister said the situation was “now stabilising” and things were “getting better on the forecourts”.
Speaking for the first time since issues began at filling stations, Mr Johnson said he sympathised with people who had been unable to get fuel, calling it “frustrating and infuriating”.
“What we’re hearing from the industry is the situation at forecourts is stabilising,” he said, while urging people to refrain from panic buying. Mr Johnson also confirmed he would not seek to prioritise essential workers at the pumps.
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said yesterday that “only” 37 per cent of the forecourts it represented were out of petrol on Tuesday. On Sunday, the PRA – which represents nearly 5,500 of the UK’s 8,000 filling stations – reported up to two-thirds of outlets had run out of fuel.
Labour said the government had let the country “crash from crisis to crisis”, with leader Sir Keir Starmer expected to highlight the issue in a key conference speech later.
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