Brexit, visa difficulties for foreign workers and restrictions related to the pandemic have created ideal conditions for a crisis in British factories, experts say.
In the UK, about 20 vehicles followed a concrete mixer for several kilometers, mistaking it for a fuel truck. This news well illustrates the fuel crisis that the kingdom has been experiencing for over a week. And the reason is not that there is no gasoline in Britain. Correspondent.net tells the details.
The military called on to fight the crisis
Gordon Ballmer, executive director of the Fuel Retailers Association, said that automobile fuel is completely absent at 26 percent of gas stations in Britain.
According to him, only 47 percent of filling stations are fully provided with both gasoline and diesel, and a quarter of all filling stations have only one type of fuel. Some companies are reporting a 90 percent drop in inventories.
“Independents, which make up 65 percent of the network, are not getting enough fuel compared to other sectors,” Ballmer said.
According to British media reports, the situation is deplorable: motorists have been queuing up at gas stations since early morning, and as a result, not everyone has enough gasoline. The British talk about what happened on social networks.
Good morning from Camden, where the mere sighting of a petrol tanker causes absolute traffic mayhem pic.twitter.com/9CgjRfnmsL
– Max Fras (@maxfras) October 3, 2021
“I got up at 5:30 because gasoline was needed for work, but nothing worked. Then I noticed a gasoline truck, followed it to the Well Hall area and ended up being second in line. Lucky!” – wrote one of the Twitter users …
I got up at 5.30 this morning as i need petrol for my business there was nothing open ,then i saw by luck a tanker so i followed it???? to well hall ,2nd in line boom how lucky was i
— michael day (@daysey9) September 26, 2021
“My daughter will not go to work tomorrow if she doesn’t find gasoline. Today it didn’t work: everything is sold out,” says another user.
Morning M well my daughter won’t be going to work tomorrow if she can’t find petrol today everywhere she’s tried is sold out
— Lynlittlelion???????? (@lynlittlelion) September 27, 2021
Before that, the country had a systemic problem with the supply chains of supplying supermarkets with food, due to which many shelves were constantly empty. The lack of fuel not only exacerbated this problem, but also led to new – already in vital sectors such as health care.
The Guardian newspaper reported that due to a shortage of oncology departments in British hospitals, they were forced to reduce the number of examinations of patients – there is simply not enough gasoline for the special transport on which they are taken to clinics.
A spokeswoman for University College London hospital noted that the postponement of scheduled examinations affected only a few patients. But other speakers quoted by the publication are less restrained in their assessments.
“We cannot afford to stand in line for two or three hours at a gas station when a patient is waiting for us,” said David Wrigley, deputy head of the British Medical Association, calling the situation critical.
Energy crisis threatens with a global economic crisis
The British Medical Association (the medical workers’ union) has called for priority access to gasoline for medical workers and indispensable workers because “there is a real risk that national health workers will not be able to work.”
Doctors are partially switching to remote counseling of patients because they do not have enough fuel to get to hospitals or to patients’ homes.
It is worth noting that Britain faced not only a shortage of drivers, but also a shortage of labor in general. Almost the entire medium-sized business sector has been affected by Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic, the Guardian notes.
A study by the consulting firm BDO found that 38 percent of companies were left without foreign workers.
“Brexit, visa difficulties for foreign workers and restrictions related to the pandemic have created ideal conditions for a crisis in British factories,” said Ed Dwan, a spokesman for the firm.
According to him, Britain is faced with a serious problem, because medium-sized businesses are the engine of the economy for the entire country.
More than a quarter of the 500 companies surveyed said a shortage of workers caused a decrease in production capacity and a decrease in product inventories.
Now firms have begun to consider options to cut production, they plan to raise prices, which also raised concerns about rising inflation due to the approaching Christmas sales.
At the same time, almost a fifth of the companies surveyed increased salaries and introduced additional benefits to attract new employees.
Almost half of the companies will raise salaries. More than one-third of companies have said they are cutting back on products and services, and they plan to do the same next month if the situation does not improve.
The impact on consumers could be significant, the researchers note, as prices will need to rise over the next three to six months to make up for the shortages.
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