Johnson insists petrol crisis ‘stabilising’ as he prepares to save Christmas
Formal authorisation has been given for troops to help deal with the supply chain crisis.
Troops will begin training to help deliver petrol supplies as Boris Johnson said he was making preparations to deal with potential problems until “Christmas and beyond”.
The Prime Minister said the situation on the filling station forecourts is “stabilising” as he urged motorists to go about their business in the normal way.
A decision to put 150 military drivers on standby has been formally approved, meaning they can begin training in case they are required.
A further 150 drivers’ mates are also ready to help out as part of the military effort.
“They’re still on standby but can now start training now it’s approved,” a Government source said.
They will be held in a “state of readiness” and could deployed “in the coming days” if needed, sources said.
On Tuesday Mr Johnson tried to calm nerves about the supply chain problems affecting businesses across the country.
“We now are starting to see the situation improve, we’re hearing from industry that supply is coming back onto the forecourt in the normal way.
“And I would just really urge everybody to just go about their business in the normal way and fill up in the normal way when you really need it and you know, things will start to improve.
Following days of chaos, with long queues for petrol and stations running dry, the Prime Minister said he understood the frustration felt by drivers as they struggled to fill up.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused the Government of reducing the country to “chaos” through its failure to deal with the fuel crisis.
The Labour leader said the haulage industry was “beyond frustrated” at the lack of a clear plan by ministers to alleviate the problems caused by the shortage of tanker drivers.
“The Government has reduced the country to chaos as we track from crisis to crisis.
“The Government is not gripping this,” he told BBC News.
Mr Johnson rejected calls for healthcare staff and other workers to be given priority access to fuel, suggesting it was unnecessary given the easing of the situation.
After the Government announced it would be issuing 5,000 temporary visas to foreign lorry drivers to alleviate the shortages which led to the crisis, he also dismissed demands for more overseas workers to be admitted.
His comments came after Transport Secretary Grant Shapps acknowledged that Brexit, which cut off the supply of drivers from the EU, had been a “factor” in the crisis.
