UK: Fuel Panic ‘Self-Inflicted Insanity’

Leaked emails report that ambulance drivers are having fuel rationed – as an industry leader described the crisis as “self-inflicted insanity”.

One email, seen by Sky News, suggested that ambulances were being forced to join lenghty queues at petrol stations and restricted to a maximum of £50 of petrol.

Another email suggested that police and ambulance drivers were turning up to designated petrol stations to demand that fuel be held back for them.

In the same email, Chris Hunt, Director General of the UK Petroleum Industry Association, described the situation as “self-inflicted insanity”.

The email from Mr Hunt to the Department of Energy read: “We are also getting reports that Police and Emergency services are turning up on DFS [disignated filling stations] and Non-DFS [non-designated filling stations] demanding priority and stocks to be held back on their behalf.”

But he warns that the “prioritisation of emergency services has to be a matter of harmonious discussion between the site operators and emergency services for the time being until this self-inflicted insanity subsides?”.

An earlier email from a Department of Health official to Mr Hunt read: “We have been notified by NHS operations that ambulances in the NW are having to queue for fuel with domestic customers (particularly at Sainsburys petrol stations where they are also being limited to £50 of fuel along with other customers).

“Would you be able to get a message out to retailers that fuel cannot be rationed for ambulances as they perform an essential role in responding to emergencies.

“They should therefore be permitted to fill their tanks as a matter of priority and not be limited to a financial limit imposed on other customers.”

Sainsbury’s has strenuously denied placing any restrictions on the amount of fuel available to any of its customers.

Meanwhile, a doctor emailed Sky News separately to report that an ambulance was struggling to find enough fuel to continue with duties.

The email read: “I’m a hospital doctor in Yorkshire. Early this morning I was looking after a critically ill children who needed to be transferred to another hospital (outside Yorkshire) for intensive care.

“The ambulance had enough diesel to get to the destination but they were struggling to find fuel to allow the team to return to Yorkshire to do further work.”

A Department of Health spokesperson reacted to news of the emails by saying that ambulances had “access to well stocked alternative fuel supplies and there is no problem with ambulances getting fuel”.
Cameron On Fuel Crisis

David Cameron sought to calm nerves over the row as the Unite union said that petrol tanker drivers would not strike before Easter.

He called on the union to engage constructively in talks at conciliation service Acas on Monday and urged it to withdraw the threat of strike action.

The Prime Minister said: “It is now clear there will not be a strike before Easter, and I’m sure the whole country will welcome that news.

“It is vitally important the trade union in question enters these talks on Monday constructively.

“The most constructive thing they could do would be to call off the strike entirely.”

Ministers led by Energy Secretary Ed Davey met the haulage bosses on Friday amid criticism of their handling of the threatened strike.

Mr Davey previously advised drivers who usually only fill their tanks by one-third should consider upping this to two-thirds.

After the meeting in Whitehall, an Energy Department spokesman said: “Discussions focused on contingency planning, covering training more military drivers in the event that a strike is called.”

Despite the fact that no strike has been called some petrol stations have been forced to close as motorists rush to fill up their cars.

The Retail Motor Industry Federation – which represents independent petrol stations – said that sales on Thursday nearly doubled when compared to a regular Thursday.

The Petrol Retailers Association said it is waiting for “practical and well-considered” leadership from the Government during the growing fuel crisis.

 

Sky