Hillingdon residents have expressed concern about the Government's disorganisation that has led to local shortages and panic.
Whilst the Government has insisted it has “ample fuel stocks”, that has not stopped panicked motorists forming queues outside petrol stations to fill their vehicles, causing some pumps to go dry. Yesterday, Saturday 25th, in Yiewsley, queues began forming as early as 7am.
A key reason for the shortages and disruption is the lack of a post-Brexit a strategy to combat the shortage of HGV drivers. The Road Haulage Association estimates that the UK has a shortage of 100,000 drivers.
In an attempt to ease the crisis, the UK Government are introducing a temporary visa scheme. This will enable 5,000 HGV drivers and 5,500 poultry workers from abroad to work in the UK on a temporary basis, up until Christmas Eve.
Given the scale of the crisis, this has been widely criticised as too little too late.
Ex-Uxbridge North Conservative Councillor and Mayor George Cooper tweeted that given the bureaucratic application process and 3 month length of the Visa, "Why would someone bother"?
Similarly, Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Ruislip, Pinner, and Northwood Jonathan Banks tweeted: "Relaxing the visa rules to encourage EU drivers to return brings one big complication - why would they want to come back?"
To help fill the shortage, to incentivise people to be HGV drivers in the UK, Uxbridge and South Ruislip Constituency Labour Party has called on the UK Government to improve “conditions and contracts….as a priority”.
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