Army could be activated to assist escalating UK fuel crisis

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is considering activating the army to respond to the worsening fuel crisis

Under considerations, soldiers would be deployed to deliver fuel to service stations across Britain, after panic buying of petrol left stations running dry.

The emergency plan is expected to be considered by the Prime Minister this week.

Johnson is set to gather senior members of his cabinet to discuss the activation of “Operation Escalin” after BP confirmed that a third of its fuel stations have now run out of two grades of fuel.

The UK Fuel Association has admitted that 50-90 per cent of their members have reported having run out of fuel.

But is the army the answer?

Ministers are confident the petrol shortage will be solved before it needs to order the Army to help with deliveries.

Government sources played down the prospect of any immediate decisions being made on the Army being brought in to help drive petrol tankers to deliver much-needed fuel, stating soldiers would first need to be trained on how to respond to the situation.

The fuel industry has assured motorists it expects the panic-buying of petrol and diesel to wind down, saying “there is plenty of fuel”.

In a joint statement, fuel firms also called for drivers to stop panic buying and provided reassurance that demand will return to normal in the next few days

The statement stated that: “There is plenty of fuel at UK refineries and terminals, and as an industry we are working closely with the government to help ensure fuel is available to be delivered to stations across the country.”

“As many cars are now holding more fuel than usual, we expect that demand will return to its normal levels in the coming days, easing pressures on fuel station forecourts. We would encourage everyone to buy fuel as they usually would.

“We remain enormously grateful to all forecourt staff and HGV drivers for working tirelessly to maintain supplies during this time.”