With Brexit and Covid-19, shortages are increasing in the United Kingdom.

They now extend to fuels.

Supply difficulties which add to the consequences of the lack of truck drivers.

Faced with concerns related to this situation, the British government endeavored, Friday, September 24, to reassure its population. 

Of around 1,200 service stations managed by Britain's BP, "five had to close" Thursday, Transport Minister Grant Shapps told Sky News, stressing that no other retailer had reported closing. 

The US giant ExxonMobil, owner of Esso stations, said Thursday that a "small number" of its 200 stations in Tesco supermarkets were also affected by this problem.

The minister also called on motorists to "act as usual" and not to make massive purchases under the effect of panic, which could worsen the situation.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) estimates the UK needs around 100,000 more truck drivers, a shortage that has created growing supply problems in recent weeks, including in supermarkets.

A "winter of discontent" to come

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The pandemic, which has resulted in the closure for months of training centers for new drivers, is the "main cause" of the problem affecting other countries, said the minister.

Added to this are "longer term problems", he continued, stressing that it was "difficult and so far underpaid work". 

He pleaded for higher wages and improved working conditions in this sector to attract more candidates.

>> To read also on France24.com: The recovery of the world economy delayed by unprecedented shortages

The pandemic has also prompted many truck drivers, largely foreign, to return to their country, and Brexit has made it difficult for new drivers from the European Union to arrive due to much more complex immigration formalities.

For the Minister of Transport, people are "wrong" to attribute the origin of the problems to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union.

He argued that "Brexit had actually provided part of the solution".

"Thanks to Brexit, I was able to change the law and change the way driving tests work, in a way that I could not have if we were still part of the EU," said Grant Shapps .

Labor MP David Lammy has warned the government it faces "a winter of discontent" with shortages of personnel, supplies and skills.

With AFP

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