Grant Shapps says fuel crisis ‘manufactured’ and blames a road haulage association
Almost a third of BP’s petrol stations in the UK have run out of fuel due to “intense demand seem over the past days”, the oil giant said in a statement.
It comes amid continued panic buying despite the government pleading with motorists to behave normally and transport secretary Grant Shapps blaming the Road Haulage Association for creating a “manufactured crisis”, caused by an alleged media leak.
“We estimate that around 30 per cent of sites in this network do not currently have either of the main grades of fuel,” BP, which operates 1,200 sites in Britain, said in statement. “We are working to resupply as rapidly as possible.”
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced on Sunday night the government will suspend competition law in an attempt to get a grip on the fuel shortages. He pledged the move would make it easier for companies to “share vital information”, and prioritise parts of the country and locations most at need.
The intervention comes less than 24 hours after ministers were told, by the head of the Petrol Retailers Association, that plans to offer temporary visas to 5,000 foreign HGV drivers were unlikely to fix the immediate and “really serious problems” caused by panic buying petrol and diesel.
Citing conversations with the trade body’s membership, its chair Brian Madderson suggested that “between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of their forecourts are currently dry, and those that aren't dry are partly dry and running out soon”.
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