Calls for key workers to be prioritised for fuel – but who should be front of the queue?
The government is facing calls to prioritise essential workers as some petrol supplies run dry amid impacts of a shortage of lorry drivers.
Long queues were reported overnight and some petrol brands are seeing as many as 90% of their sites running dry, according to the Petrol Retailers Association.
Union Unison said that key workers should not be left stranded or forced to queue for hours for fuel, and called on the government to “designate fuel stations for the sole use of key workers”.
“Essential staff must be able to get to their jobs so they can continue to provide the services so many rely upon”, said the union’s general secretary Christina McAnea.
“Ambulance crews, nurses, care workers, teaching assistants, police staff and other key workers mustn’t be left stranded or forced to queue for hours simply to get to a pump.
“The Government could solve this problem now by using emergency powers to designate fuel stations for the sole use of key workers.”
But what difficulties are essential workers experiencing?
Healthcare workers
Healthcare and essential workers should be given priority access to fuel, the British Medical Association has said.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, BMA council chair, said healthcare workers should be prioritised to guarantee care to patients. He said “there is a real risk that NHS staff won’t be able to do their jobs”.
“While the government has said it is putting plans in place to alleviate the shortage of HGV drivers to transport fuel, the results of this won’t be immediate,” Dr Nagpaul added.
“Healthcare and essential workers must therefore be given priority access to fuel so they can continue their crucial work and guarantee care to patients.”
There have been calls to prioritise emergency service vehicles
Earlier, a campaign group called EveryDoctor, which has 1,700 members, had reported that some healthcare workers were unable to get to work and said the government should clarify its plan “to ensure that all NHS staff can reach their workplaces safely during this fuel crisis”.
Get in touch: If you’re struggling to get fuel we want to hear from you. Send us a photo of queues or closed petrol stations if you can do so legally and safely, along with details of how it’s affecting you, your name and location. Email news@skynews.com with the subject line ‘blog’.
Homecare workers
The Homecare Association is calling for urgent prioritisation of homecare and other essential workers on garage forecourts.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
No plans for army drivers to ease fuel crisis
Jane Townson, chief executive of the Homecare Association, said: “There is only patchy prioritisation of essential workers.
“In previous fuel strikes, local authorities have been able to arrange for scarce fuel to be prioritised for essential users.
“There is a question whether this needs authority from central government, under civil contingencies legislation, to address the current problem. We call for this issue to be resolved urgently, as homecare workers need a fast solution so they can get to people who rely on their vital help.”
“The lack of communication from government is not helping.”
What about other workers?
Meat industry
The petrol pumps crisis has presented another problem for the beleaguered meat industry as key staff, such as meat inspectors and vets, are starting to have trouble getting to different sites.
It’s another headache for the sector which has already been hit by a shortage of CO2 – used for stunning animals before slaughter and vacuum packing – and an exodus of foreign workers at abattoirs.
The crisis has presented another problem for the beleaguered meat industry
The British Meat Processors Association said the latest problem had so far not caused any plants to shut completely but it was “monitoring the unfolding situation very carefully”.
A spokesperson for the group said: “Apart from the obvious logistics problems with getting deliveries of product between plants and into supermarkets, which many manufacturers are facing, the meat industry has additional but less obvious vulnerabilities to the fuel shortage.
“There are a number of critical workers whose presence is relied on to keep meat factories running. Meat inspectors are the people who physically stamp every carcass to denote that it is fit for human consumption so it can enter the food chain. Vets must be present to inspect operations from an animal welfare perspective and also sign off critical documentation to certify standards are being met.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Emergency measures to stop panic buying fuel
“The people who perform these roles often work across multiple meat plants over a wide geographic area. If either of these roles are absent due to their inability to get petrol and travel to the sites, production instantly slows down in direct proportion to the time they’re not able to work.
“We have heard reports from a couple of companies already that they’re missing some of these key workers. So far it has not caused any plants to completely shut but we are monitoring the unfolding situation very carefully.”
Teachers
Teachers could be among key workers prioritised
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “The last thing we need is further disruption to education given the experience of the last 18 months.
“Schools are still grappling with the ongoing challenges caused by COVID-19, and so we hope any further disruption caused by petrol supply problems can be avoided.”
Pharmacies
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society said that pharmacies are still getting deliveries of medicines and told people to collect their prescriptions as normal.
Pharmacies are still getting deliveries
Professor Claire Anderson, president of the society, said: “As normal, pharmacists are working with patients to ensure they get the medicines they need. We’re not aware that the problems with fuel supplies are stopping patients getting their medicines.
“If you have any concerns then please speak to your local pharmacist and their team, who will be able to help and reassure you.”
Taxis and cars
Travelhire Group, which runs Brunel and Green Tomato cars, warned of “a sizeable portion of delays to bookings” in the coming days and warned customers to allocate time for delays.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
The UK is at risk of a winter crisis. So, what’s going wrong? Who could feel the impact? And how does the government plan to avoid the worst?
The organisation said: “In order to control fuel consumption and minimise the risk of vehicles becoming stranded, there are some long-distance bookings which we will not be able to honour. We will contact customers individually about any such bookings.
“We are encouraging customers to share bookings where practical (up to 3 passengers in one car). Where people carriers are booked, there may be times we need to send two cars instead.”
Edmund King, AA president, said: “Millions of drivers changed their refuelling habits this weekend, but once a tank is full it can’t be topped up. This short-term increase in demand should slow and allow forecourts time to restock. We anticipate things will return to normal within the coming days.
“Drivers also need to be careful because this weekend we have seen a dramatic rise in misfuelling (putting in the wrong fuel) compared to last weekend. This in turn unnecessarily reduces the fuel available as the whole tank has to be drained before refilling with the correct fuel.”
The UK will not to take back asylum seekers who cross the border into Ireland “until the EU accepts that we can send them back to France”, according to a government source.
The comment comes amid an escalating row between Dublin and Westminster over the Irish government’s plans for new legislation to enable asylum seekers who cross the border from Northern Ireland to be sent back to the UK.
Irish justice minister Helen McEntee told a parliamentary committee last week that more than 80% of recent arrivals in Ireland came via the land border with Northern Ireland.
Ireland’s deputy prime minister and foreign secretary Micheal Martin also said the threat of deportation to Rwanda was causing “fearful” migrants to head for Ireland instead of the UK.
As the row deepened on Sunday night, Irish prime minister Simon Harris, vowed the country would “not provide a loophole for anybody else’s migration challenges”.
He also said that “close” collaboration and cooperation between the British and Irish governments was “not just desirable, but absolutely essential”.
However, a UK government source said any bid to return asylum seekers from Ireland would be rejected unless France agreed to do the same with boats crossing the Channel.
“We won’t accept any asylum returns from the EU via Ireland until the EU accepts that we can send them back to France,” the source said.
Taoiseach Simon Harris. Pic: PA
It comes as figures showed the number of migrants that crossed the Channel in small boats during the first four months of the year was at its highest-ever level.
Meanwhile, The Guardian reported on Sunday night that a major operation by the Home Office to detain migrants across the UK in preparation for their deportation to Rwanda had begun “weeks earlier than expected”. The report has not been verified by Sky News.
Ministers from both countries are set to meet in London on Monday as part of a pre-planned conference, involving Mr Martin and the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris.
However, a meeting between the UK home secretary, James Cleverly, and Ms McEntee, planned for Monday, was postponed late on Sunday night.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
‘A global challenge’
Mr Martin said the UK government’s Rwanda policy – which became law last week after much legal and political back-and-forth – had already impacted Ireland because people were “fearful” of staying in the UK.
“Maybe that’s the impact it was designed to have,” the former taoiseach told The Daily Telegraph.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told Sky News on Sunday that the UK’s Rwanda scheme was already working as a deterrent.
He also said the comments from Irish politicians showed that illegal migration was a “global challenge”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Rwanda scheme is working, says PM
“[That] is why you’re seeing multiple countries talk about doing third country partnerships, looking at novel ways to solve this problem, and I believe [they] will follow where the UK has led,” he said.
Mr Harris, who took over as taoiseach in April, is already facing pressure from voters to tackle migration in Ireland – which has seen anti-immigrant protests in recent months.
Read more from Sky News:
Dublin anti-immigrant camp ‘not about racism’
Irish PM apologises over Stardust nightclub fire
He has asked his justice minister to “bring proposals to cabinet to amend existing law regarding the designation of safe ‘third countries’ and allowing the return of inadmissible international protection applicants to the UK”.
Irish ministers are expected to discuss emergency legislation on Tuesday.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Ireland plans to return migrants to UK
The legislation is being drafted in response to an Irish High Court ruling that found Ireland designating the UK as a “safe third country” for returning asylum seekers, in the context of the Rwanda plan, is contrary to EU law.
Ms McEntee said she would seek government approval for the legislation to be “rapidly drafted so that the UK can again be designated as a safe country for returns”.
“My department has been working on this as a priority since last month’s High Court judgment and I intend that returns to the UK will recommence once the law is enacted,” she added.
More human remains have been found in two locations as part of an investigation that started when a man’s torso was discovered in Salford.
Police believe the torso belongs to a man in his 60s and have informed his family about his death, but have not yet identified him publicly.
In a news conference today, officers revealed the victim is believed to have known two men who are currently in custody. They are believed to have lived together.
More human remains have been found at Linnyshaw Colliery Wood in Salford
Detective Superintendent Lewis Hughes said they were looking at four crime scenes in Salford and the Greater Manchester area.
The human remains discovered over the last two days were found at Salford’s Blackleach Reservoir and Linnyshaw Colliery Wood.
Officers had already identified the two scenes before the remains were found and were “on route to the Colliery Wood” when a member of the public called to say they had found a package, said Det Supt Hughes.
Police officers found the other remains at the reservoir today while searching the area.
“We are very confident it is the same victim,” Det Supt Hughes added.
The victim is believed to have died in late March.
Police are searching a warehouse in Bury where “items were stored after this incident without the knowledge of occupants of that warehouse,” said Det Supt Hughes.
They’re also searching a house in Winton where the victim “was believed to have lived with the two men in custody”.
The first remains – consisting of the bottom of the back, buttocks and thigh – were found in clear plastic by a passer-by at Kersal Dale Wetlands in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 4 April.
Forensic officers at Kersal Dale, near Salford, Greater Manchester. Pic: PA
Two men, aged 42 and 68, from Salford, who are believed to be known to each other, were arrested on suspicion of murder on 25 April, GMP said, after officers trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage.
The 42-year-old was arrested after officers stormed a bus in Eccles Old Road around midday, the force said.
The other man was later arrested at an address in Worsley Road.
Read more:
Two men arrested after human torso discovered in nature reserve
Children playing at Salford nature reserve may have crucial information, police say
A 20-year-old man previously arrested on suspicion of murder was later released on bail pending further inquiries.
“It is too soon to rule out [looking for other suspects] but we’re confident at this time that we have the right two suspects in custody,” said Det Supt Hughes.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Detectives are still appealing the public for any information related to the crime and want to hear from witnesses, including dog walkers, who were in the area between 6am and 6pm on the day a passer-by made the original grim discovery.
More than 100 officers searched the Kersal Dale area for 12 days looking for evidence, working with an underwater search team and dogs before lifting the crime scene on 17 April.
The number of migrants that have crossed the Channel in small boats during the first four months of the year is at its highest ever level.
Some 7,167 people have arrived on UK shores after travelling by small boat from the continent between 1 January to 27 April, with 902 entering just this past week
This compares to 5,745 for the same period last year. The previous record was 6,691 in 2022.
The figures come after Rishi Sunak has staked much of his political future on getting the number of migrant boat crossings down.
On Sky’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme he said migrants travelling to Ireland after arriving in the UK on small boats was a sign the Rwanda scheme was already working as a deterrent.
“People are worried about coming here and that demonstrates exactly what I’m saying,” he told Sky News.
“If people come to our country illegally, but know that they won’t be able to stay there, they are much less likely to come, and that’s why the Rwanda scheme is so important.”
However, the news that migrants are crossing from Northern Ireland into the Republic has sparked an outcry in the country, and prompted the government in Dublin to announce they are planning emergency legislation to send asylum seekers back to Britain.
More than 80% of recent arrivals in the republic came via the land border with Northern Ireland, Irish justice minister Helen McEntee told a parliamentary committee last week.
Read more:
Rishi Sunak pledge tracker: PM’s progress on five goals
PM can no longer blame political opponents if Rwanda scheme fails
How much of an impact will Rwanda act have?
Stopping the boats was one of the government’s five priorities set out by the prime minister after he took office in 2023.
The latest figures have been seized upon by Labour, with shadow immigration minister Stephen Kinnock saying: “This is the blunt reality behind all of Rishi Sunak’s empty boasts: more people have arrived by small boats so far this year than ever before and more people are having to be rescued.
“What will it take for Rishi Sunak to wake up and realise that his plan is not working?
“We desperately need a Labour government in place to get a grip of this issue.
“Our plan would strengthen Britain’s border security, crush the smuggling gangs, clear the asylum backlog, end hotel use, and set up a new returns and enforcement unit so those with no right to be in the UK are swiftly returned.”
Read more:
Tory MP and doctor Dan Poulter defects to Labour
Humza Yousaf to reject pact with Alex Salmond’s Alba Party
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said other countries will ‘follow where the UK has led’ with the scheme.
Earlier this week, the prime minister said the government would “begin the process of removing those identified for the first flight” to Rwanda.
Mr Sunak said that they had increased detention spaces to 2,200 and had 200 caseworkers “ready and waiting” to process asylum claims.
He added that 25 courtrooms and 150 judges had been provided to deal with any legal cases quickly.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Environment11 months agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports6 months agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Technology3 years ago
Game consoles were once banned in China. Now Chinese developers want a slice of the $49 billion pie
-
Politics2 years ago
Have the last few wobbly weeks seen a turning point for Johnson as PM?