As of: 09/26/2021 12:26 a.m.
The UK government is making it easier for truck drivers to issue visas. A total of 10,500 foreign skilled workers are to be brought into the country in order to remedy supply bottlenecks for gasoline and food.
Due to delivery problems with food and gasoline in the UK, the government has exceptionally approved 10,500 work visas for foreign professionals. This will bring 5000 truck drivers and 5500 poultry processing specialists into the country, as the Ministry of Transport announced. With the transitional arrangement, they should be able to work in the UK until Christmas Eve.
Army should assign driving instructors
The visas should be available by October, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said. He also announced a package of measures to increase the number of local truck drivers in the short term. Among other things, driving examiners from the Ministry of Defense are to help out in order to be able to offer additional driving tests in the next twelve weeks. The Ministry of Education is supposed to help with training. In addition, almost a million letters are to be sent to drivers who have a truck driver’s license but are not currently driving. The government hopes the move will help replenish supermarket shelves and toy stores before the festival.
The announcement is a clear departure from Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s restrictive immigration policy since leaving the EU. Johnson had previously strictly rejected Visa exemptions, although logistics companies and retailers have been demanding it for months. Johnson had justified his refusal to end Britain’s dependence on foreign workers.
100,000 truckers are missing
According to the reports, the trigger for the change of heart was problems with gasoline deliveries at filling stations. “Johnson is completely fed up with the bad headlines and wants it to be resolved, he no longer cares about visa rules,” the Financial Times quoted an “ally” of the prime minister as saying.
The Road Haulage Association estimates that there is a shortage of around 100,000 truck drivers in the UK. That is why there were bottlenecks and empty supermarket shelves in many places. This is mainly due to the fact that many truckers returned to the European continent after Brexit.
In addition, the corona pandemic had hindered the training and tests of new drivers. Since Brexit, EU citizens moving to the UK for work have had to get expensive visas. Other industries, such as meat manufacturers, also complain of a blatant shortage of skilled workers.
Gas stations are running out of fuel
The energy companies BP and Esso were no longer able to supply some petrol stations with fuel due to the lack of drivers. Long queues formed in front of some gas stations after the delivery problems became known. The energy companies BP and Esso closed some petrol stations, while others only offered petrol or diesel. The operator EG Group introduced an upper limit of 30 pounds (35 euros) per customer at the pumps. The government stressed that panic buying was not necessary. “There is no shortage of fuel,” tweeted cabinet member Nadine Dorries.
The issue of fuel is currently limited in many petrol stations.
Image: picture alliance / empics
Delivery bottlenecks now also at gas stations – government warns of panic buying
Imke Köhler, ARD London, 9/24/2021 1:11 p.m.