refineries to the forecourts, today we are told that army drivers are in fact on standby. it s that sensible in your view? i fact on standby. it s that sensible in your view? in your view? i think so. the military personnel in your view? i think so. the military personnel have i in your view? i think so. the | military personnel have been in your view? i think so. the - military personnel have been trained to drive the big tankers, up to 42,000 litres of highly combustible liquids in very crowded city areas of motorways, that it s a really importantjob. what they have not been fully prepared on, as far as i am aware, is actually filling those tankers at the delivery entrance of the terminals and then discharging the terminals and then discharging the right fuel into the right pot, to the rightful coach. some of those areas, the beginning and the end, the government is looking with industry to see how they can best make short term fix to ensure that
vicki young is at westminster. normally, when army drivers and army staff are put on standby, that is a sign for lots of people that they should be treated with some alarm. what is the government macro strategy here, and what does it expect to happen in the next few days? expect to happen in the next few da s? , ., , expect to happen in the next few das? ,., days? the first one is practical, sa in: to days? the first one is practical, saying to drivers days? the first one is practical, saying to drivers to days? the first one is practical, saying to drivers to get - days? the first one is practical, saying to drivers to get ready. l days? the first one is practical, saying to drivers to get ready. i days? the first one is practical, - saying to drivers to get ready. i am told it will initially be 75 drivers, it could go up to a50 with the same number of support staff. but they do need specialised driving that could take five days. what could be the effect on human behaviour? that i
the times here with a warning from the b and there is a real risk of nhs staff being unable to do their jobs because they won t be able to fill up their card cars. anger at the cost of fuel will makes the front of the express. desperate drivers are being ripped off by some firms increasing petrol prices and cashing in on a crisis. 150 a leader in some cases. more elsewhere. the repeats that story, which the paper is half of that army drivers will be placed in a state of readiness to deliver if you will, but that will take several weeks to train them up. our main story for the guardian, though it is the man who is likely to be the next chancellor of germany. he says that brexit is to blame for the fuel problems. they also have the latest from the labour conference in brighton. while the male leads with its own investigation. the prime minister has ordered a thorough inquiry into
panic and this continues for a few days still. we have seen some plans from the government to allow more hgv drivers into the country on short term visas. those plans are likely to take a few days, if not a few weeks to come to fusion. it is worth bearing in mind that there is no guarantee that foreign drivers will come and take up those visas, particularly given the situation with covid in some countries. there is also talk, as you heard, in the headlines there, about potentially bringing in some army drivers to help with the effort. that is something that there are plans for. they were drawn up in the event of a no deal brexit. there is an operation for the army to come and help with distribution. but we have heard george eustice, the environment secretary, saying this morning that is something the government does not have plans to do at the moment. it seems where any holding pattern at the moment where the government is hoping these queues will not continue, but the
process more dv essay, that is licensing itself, to get that through. and then in the longer term which is big reform of the sector thatis which is big reform of the sector that is required because there has been a systemic shortage of drivers across the whole of the economy, made much, much worse by a coronavirus across the world. are coronavirus across the world. are ou auoin coronavirus across the world. are you going to coronavirus across the world. are you going to bring in army drivers? well, we will do whatever is required. the army at the moment is going to make sure that we are testing hgv drivers and that is where the bottleneck is. but there is a big package today that includes apprenticeships and boot camps and better pay and conditions for people. what we are asking for is on top of that package is for the public to do their part, only fill up public to do their part, only fill up when you need to, don t top up at all, only fill up when you need to. and there is actually