Petrol retailers say there is ‘plenty of fuel’ with demand to ‘return to normal levels’ in coming days
Petrol retailers hoping for a return to normal after motorists drained pumps over the weekend have faced yet more forecourt queues – as parts of the economy started to feel the strain.
In some areas, up to 90% of pumps ran dry, according to industry estimates – and there was little sign of the panic-buying diminishing on Monday, with consumers apparently ignoring pleas to stop.
That left industries from taxi drivers to the meat processing sector – and even non-league football – facing difficulties and prompted calls for healthcare workers to be given priority access to fuel.
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No plans for army drivers to ease fuel crisis
The British Medical Association said there was a real risk that some would not be able to get to work.
But the Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA), representing two-thirds of all UK forecourts, said that with many drivers’ tanks now full after the weekend it was watching for an “easing of demand”.
The government said there were no plans to bring in the army to drive lorries to deliver fuel to petrol stations though environment secretary George Eustice said the military’s contingencies unit was always on standby.
Mr Eustice said: “There does come a point – as we saw during a previous episode of panic buying during the pandemic on food – where things settle down and people get used to it, and return to life as normal again.
“The sooner people do that the better.
“The only reason we don’t have petrol on the forecourts is that people are buying petrol when they don’t need to.”
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5,000 extra drivers ‘just about scratches the surface’
The crisis mushroomed after the disclosure last week that a few petrol stations had seen supply disrupted, due to the nationwide shortage of HGV drivers, prompting widespread panic-buying.
It was still in evidence for a fourth day on Monday, with roads gridlocked as motorists queued for more than an hour in some cases, with lines of cars trailing out of forecourts onto the public highway.
Some petrol retailers – Asda and EG group – have been restricting fuel sales to £30 a time.
Even if the buying frenzy does abate, motorists face a further headache as the price of Brent crude on international oil markets continued to climb, reaching a three-year high of just under $80 a barrel – likely to result in higher prices at the pumps to come.
Meanwhile the RAC, the motoring organisation, said it was aware of “a small number of retailers taking advantage of the current delivery situation by hiking prices”.
The industry has pleaded with consumers to stop panic-buying and sought to assure the public that, with fuel stocks at refineries and terminals at normal levels, it is only a shortage of lorry drivers that has restricted deliveries of fuel.
Gordon Balmer, executive director of the PRA, which represents independent fuel retailers, said: “Delayed deliveries and unusual buying levels have led to supply pressure and a number of forecourts’ stockouts.
“It is unlikely that the vehicles filled over the weekend will need refuelling again soon.
“As a result, we will watch carefully for a possible easing of demand and normalising of forecourt stocks over the coming days.”
RAC spokesman Simon Williams noted however that the panic-buying over the weekend meant every forecourt in the country now needs to re-stock at the same time, putting “unbelievable pressure on the supply chain”.
He added: “We urge drivers to only take the fuel they really need.
“Stock piling in containers only makes the situation worse for those who desperately need fuel as well as potentially causing unnecessary fire risks if not stored correctly.”
Among industries feeling the knock-on effect was the beleaguered meat-processing sector – already buffeted by recent crises such as a shortage of the carbon dioxide used to stun animals for slaughter as well as an exodus of foreign workers.
The British Meat Processor’ Association (BMPA) told Sky News that the petrol crisis had resulted in some companies missing key staff such as vets and meat inspectors.
“So far it has not caused any plants to completely shut but we are monitoring the unfolding situation very carefully,” the BMPA said in a statement.
Meanwhile one private hire taxi firm emailed clients to say its services could be affected to up to 48 hours, warning of delays and that it would not be able to honour some long-distance bookings.
Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation, said there were anecdotal reports of some firms starting to have problems with the delivery of finished products – though it was unclear whether that was to do with fuel or the wider HGV driver problem that lies behind it.
The crisis has even taken its toll on the sporting world. Non-league Lewes Football Club said that owing to the fuel shortage and the difficulty for players, coaches and officials to attend the game, its mid-week fixture against Carshalton Athletic would be postponed.
The government’s attempts to address the issue have included plans to allow 5,000 more lorry drivers into the UK under temporary three-month visas and the suspension of competition laws to allow fuel industry to work together to address shortfalls.
But they have received a lukewarm response from industry, with complaints that the moves fail to address long-term problems.
Rod McKenzie, head of policy for the Road Haulage Association – which says there is a shortage of 100,000 drivers – told Sky News that the temporary visa move “just about scratches the surface”.
The UK economy unexpectedly shrank in May, even after the worst of Donald Trump’s tariffs were paused, official figures showed.
A standard measure of economic growth, gross domestic product (GDP), contracted 0.1% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Rather than a fall being anticipated, growth of 0.1% was forecast by economists polled by Reuters as big falls in production and construction were seen.
It followed a 0.3% contraction in April, when Mr Trump announced his country-specific tariffs and sparked a global trade war.
A 90-day pause on these import taxes, which has been extended, allowed more normality to resume.
This was borne out by other figures released by the ONS on Friday.
Exports to the United States rose £300m but “remained relatively low” following a “substantial decrease” in April, the data said.
Overall, there was a “large rise in goods imports and a fall in goods exports”.
A ‘disappointing’ but mixed picture
It’s “disappointing” news, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said. She and the government as a whole have repeatedly said growing the economy was their number one priority.
“I am determined to kickstart economic growth and deliver on that promise”, she added.
But the picture was not all bad.
Growth recorded in March was revised upwards, further indicating that companies invested to prepare for tariffs. Rather than GDP of 0.2%, the ONS said on Friday the figure was actually 0.4%.
It showed businesses moved forward activity to be ready for the extra taxes. Businesses were hit with higher employer national insurance contributions in April.
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The expansion in March means the economy still grew when the three months are looked at together.
While an interest rate cut in August had already been expected, investors upped their bets of a 0.25 percentage point fall in the Bank of England’s base interest rate.
Such a cut would bring down the rate to 4% and make borrowing cheaper.
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Is Britain going bankrupt?
Analysts from economic research firm Pantheon Macro said the data was not as bad as it looked.
“The size of the manufacturing drop looks erratic to us and should partly unwind… There are signs that GDP growth can rebound in June”, said Pantheon’s chief UK economist, Rob Wood.
Why did the economy shrink?
The drops in manufacturing came mostly due to slowed car-making, less oil and gas extraction and the pharmaceutical industry.
The fall was not larger because the services industry – the largest part of the economy – expanded, with law firms and computer programmers having a good month.
It made up for a “very weak” month for retailers, the ONS said.
Monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures are volatile and, on their own, don’t tell us much.
However, the picture emerging a year since the election of the Labour government is not hugely comforting.
This is a government that promised to turbocharge economic growth, the key to improving livelihoods and the public finances. Instead, the economy is mainly flatlining.
Output shrank in May by 0.1%. That followed a 0.3% drop in April.
Ministers were celebrating a few months ago as data showed the economy grew by 0.7% in the first quarter.
Hangover from artificial growth
However, the subsequent data has shown us that much of that growth was artificial, with businesses racing to get orders out of the door to beat the possible introduction of tariffs. Property transactions were also brought forward to beat stamp duty changes.
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In April, we experienced the hangover as orders and industrial output dropped. Services also struggled as demand for legal and conveyancing services dropped after the stamp duty changes.
Many of those distortions have now been smoothed out, but the manufacturing sector still struggled in May.
Signs of recovery
Manufacturing output fell by 1% in May, but more up-to-date data suggests the sector is recovering.
“We expect both cars and pharma output to improve as the UK-US trade deal comes into force and the volatility unwinds,” economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics said.
Meanwhile, the services sector eked out growth of 0.1%.
A 2.7% month-to-month fall in retail sales suppressed growth in the sector, but that should improve with hot weather likely to boost demand at restaurants and pubs.
Struggles ahead
It is unlikely, however, to massively shift the dial for the economy, the kind of shift the Labour government has promised and needs in order to give it some breathing room against its fiscal rules.
The economy remains fragile, and there are risks and traps lurking around the corner.
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Is Britain going bankrupt?
Concerns that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is considering tax hikes could weigh on consumer confidence, at a time when businesses are already scaling back hiring because of national insurance tax hikes.
Inflation is also expected to climb in the second half of the year, further weighing on consumers and businesses.
Business
Government to announce new scheme as it ramps up AI adoption with backing from Facebook owner Meta
The government is speeding up its adoption of AI to try and encourage economic growth – with backing from Facebook parent Meta.
It will today announce a $1m (£740,000) scheme to hire up to 10 AI “experts” to help with the adoption of the technology.
Sir Keir Starmer has spoken repeatedly about wanting to use the developing technology as part of his “plan for change” to improve the UK – with claims it could produce tens of billions in savings and efficiencies.
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The government is hoping the new hires could help with problems like translating classified documents en masse, speeding up planning applications or help with emergency responses when power or internet outages occur.
The funding for the roles is coming from Meta, through the Alan Turing Institute. Adverts will go live next week, with the new fellowships expected to start at the beginning of 2026.
Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: “This fellowship is the best of AI in action – open, practical, and built for public good. It’s about delivery, not just ideas – creating real tools that help government work better for people.”
He added: “The fellowship will help scale that kind of impact across government, and develop sovereign capabilities where the UK must lead, like national security and critical infrastructure.”
The projects will all be based on open source models, meaning there will be a minimal cost for the government when it comes to licensing.
Meta describes its own AI model, Llama, as open source, although there are questions around whether it truly qualifies for that title due to parts of its code base not being published.
The owner of Facebook has also sponsored several studies into the benefits of government adopting more open source AI tools.
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Minister reveals how AI could improve public services
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Mr Kyle’s Department for Science and Technology has been working on its mission to increase the uptake of AI within government, including through the artificial intelligence “incubator”, under which these fellowships will fall.
The secretary of state has pointed to the success of Caddy – a tool that helps call centre workers search for answers in official documents faster – and its expanding use across government as an example of an AI success story.
He said the tool, developed with Citizens Advice, shows how AI can “boost productivity, improve decision-making, and support frontline staff”. A trial suggested it could cut waiting times for calls in half.
My Kyle also recently announced a deal with Google to provide tech support to government and assist with modernisation of data.
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Joel Kaplan, the chief global affairs officer from Meta, said: “Open-source AI models are helping researchers and developers make major scientific and medical breakthroughs, and they have the potential to transform the delivery of public services too.
“This partnership with ATI will help the government access some of the brightest minds and the technology they need to solve big challenges – and to do it openly and in the public interest.”
Jean Innes, the head of the Alan Turing Institute, said: “These fellowships will offer an innovative way to match AI experts with the real world challenges our public services are facing.”
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