Faced with shortages, UK suspends competition rules
Motorists push out of gas near a service station in South London, September 26, 2021. REUTERS - DYLAN MARTINEZ
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
In front of British petrol stations the queues are getting longer.
According to local press, the government plans to call on the army to deliver fuel.
In the meantime, competition rules have been temporarily suspended in order to help distributors tackle the shortage.
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The decision to temporarily suspend the competition rules was taken by the Minister of Enterprise and Energy, Kwasi Kwarteng.
Fuel distributors will in fact be able to share information with each other in order to deliver priority to the areas that need it most.
The special proceeding comes after the powerful association of British petrol stations warned that two-thirds of its members were out of fuel, while the rest were nearly dry.
"
Panic shopping
"
Gasoline shortages due to "
outright panic buying
," the president of the Association of British Gas Stations (PRA) told the BBC on Monday.
In recent days, gas stations have been stormed due to stockouts.
The
supply problems
affect mostly urban areas of the country while the Northern Ireland seems for the moment spared, says the association.
The shortages are mainly due to a lack of truck drivers who drive the tankers.
London granted 10,500 provisional work visas
.
These three-month permits, from October to December, should compensate for a glaring shortage of truck drivers but also of staff in key sectors of the British economy, such as poultry farming.
The possibility of calling on the army to alleviate these shortages is also being studied.
(
with AFP
)
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