Minister refutes using the army to secure car fuel
There are currently no plans to use the army to drive lorries to secure fuel for petrol stations, a government minister has said. Although some brands have reported as many as 90% of their sites running dry
Environment Secretary George Eustice gave some statements in response to news reports that the government was considering using the army to help with fuel deliveries, according to Sky News.
“We’ve no plans at the moment to bring in the army to actually do driving,” Eustice said.
“But we always have a Civil Contingencies section within the Army on standby – but we’re not jumping to that necessarily at the moment.”
He also called for drivers to stop “panic-buying” because “there isn’t a shortage. There have been some shortages of HGV drivers getting petrol to forecourts but actually that is quite limited.”
Read More: It may take two weeks to solve the fuel crisis in the UK
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “With the cost of oil rising and now near a three-year high, wholesale prices are being forced up which means retailers are paying more than they were just a few days ago for the same amount of fuel.
“We might yet see higher forecourt prices in the coming days, irrespective of the current supply problems. We are also aware of a small number of retailers taking advantage of the current delivery situation by hiking prices.”
The industry has warned that even the army’s involvement would not bring an end to the shortages on the forecourt, as reported by Sky News.
Source: Sky News
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