LONDON (AP) — Long lines are snaking down streets across the U.K. as drivers struggle to fill up their cars, causing widespread traffic misery and worries over whether the emergency services can do their work.
The British army has been put on standby to help out. And the government is blaming the public, urging people not to panic. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, people hear the word panic and do just that — panic-buying fuel on a scale not seen since September 2000 when a similar crisis brought the country to a virtual standstill.
Here’s a look at how the crisis is unfolding:
WHAT IS GOING ON?
In recent months, many companies have reported shortages, including fast-food chains KFC, McDonald’s and Nando’s. Supermarket shelves have also run dry.
At first, the shortages drew a shrug. An inconvenience for some, but hardly the stuff to shake an economy or a government. But Thursday’s news from oil giants BP and ExxonMobil that they were having to close some gas stations as a result of a truck driver shortage changed that.
People, especially those with memories of the 2000 crisis, knew where this could end and headed to the pump. Rationally they’d say. Others, seeing what was unfolding, whether live or on television or social media, have followed suit.
IS THERE A FUEL SHORTAGE?
The British government insists there is not.
That’s true, but the process of keeping the country’s gas stations flowing involves the seamless interaction of a number of activities. So when one or more aspects of the process are out of kilter, the whole system can grind to a halt.
Critics say Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also to blame for failing to address the issue of a lack of truckers — he has been warned for months that there is a shortage of around 100,000 drivers across the trucking sector overall.
Replenishing stocks becomes even more difficult if the driver shortage remains and people persist in their changed routines. It’s a self-perpetuating crisis that can — as 2000 showed — lead to the economy chugging to a halt in a matter of days.
IS BREXIT TO BLAME FOR THE SHORTAGE OF TRUCK DRIVERS?
The pro-Brexit Conservative government is keen to downplay talk that the truck driver shortage is a result of Britain’s departure from the European Union.
However, when the country left the economic orbit of the EU at the start of this year, one of the bloc’s main tenets ceased to apply — the freedom of people to move within the EU to find work. With Brexit, many tens of thousands of drivers left the U.K. to go back to their homes in the EU, further pressuring an industry already facing long-term staffing issues.
WHAT OTHER FACTORS ARE TO BLAME?
