Fuel shortages at some petrol stations have been driven by panic buying, rather than supply-chain issues, according to the president of the AA. There have been chaotic scenes at forecourts after BP announced on Thursday evening that it was closing some pumps and rationing petrol and diesel because of a lack of lorry drivers. On Friday, EG Group also said it was imposing a £30 limit at its 400 petrol stations. However, Edmund King, the president of the AA, told BBC Breakfast that drivers were exacerbating the shortages by filling up unnecessarily, insisting that “there is plenty of fuel at source”. “We were in discussions with government ministers last night and we talked to the major fuel companies, and we can reiterate there is not a problem with supply at the source,” he said. “Earlier in the week, there were some problems with the supply chain, as we know, due to a shortage of some lorry drivers, but that was only a localised problem.” Mr King added: “If you …
Transport and industry
The investment lessons to learn from the China and energy crises
I have reached the age when I am almost as interested in not losing money as I am in making more of it. I’m not so ancient that I can disregard the inevitable erosion of my purchasing power by inflation . But I am more than prepared to leave the riskier opportunities to others while I follow Warren Buffett’s dictum: rule number one, don’t lose money; rule number two, don’t forget rule number one. This is the lens through which I have been watching recent events during what is turning out to be an unusually nervous September. And while I cannot claim to have any unique insight into the Chinese property market, gas prices or the breakdown of global supply chains, I can see some important defensive lessons for investors in all three of these stories. The first lesson offered up by the travails of China’s second largest property developer is that when something looks too good to be true it usually is. I can only take at face value the stories of high pressure selling of “wealth …
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Biggest rail shake-up since privatisation caught up in Whitehall red tape
The biggest shake-up of the railways since the privatisation of British Rail will not get underway until after the next election, amid Whitehall wrangling over the new body being set up to to run the network. Great British Railways (GBR) will not be fully operational until between April and June 2024, according to a timetable prepared by the rail regulator. Rail industry bosses have told The Telegraph of growing frustration about the slow pace. They blamed Government red tape for a failure to agree GBR’s powers and remit. A timetable prepared by the Office of Rail and Road reveals the “development of policy and legislation” by Whitehall officials will take until between April and June next year. Industry sources said that a legal entity will not be set up until April next year. GBR is scheduled to be “fully operational” between April and June 2024. New contracts that promise better levels of service will be put in place between July and September 2024. The next …
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‘British Rail’ returns as Government tightens its grip on the trains
Commuters are on track for the return of British Rail as state control of the railways becomes the tightest since the days of nationalisation. A publicly owned body, Great British Railways, will be formed to centralise operations, bringing track and trains under the control of one body once again in the biggest shake-up of the industry in more than a quarter of a century. The new name will inevitably draw comparisons with British Rail, which was widely derided for its terrible service. The formation of Great British Railways is the key recommendation of a government review, led by Keith Williams, chairman of Royal Mail, which also proposes simpler rail fares and changes to commuting patterns as a result of the pandemic. A key pillar of rail privatisation under John Major in the 1990s – franchising – will be abolished. The Government will collect fares and operators will be paid a fee to run services instead - a move that risks providing little incentive for services to be run …
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Boris Johnson demands pay rise for lorry drivers
Boris Johnson has warned firms to increase lorry drivers’ wages, as ministers urged 40,000 retired HGV licence holders to return to work to help refill petrol stations and deliver supplies to supermarkets. A senior government source said that a temporary relaxation of rules allowing more EU workers to help replenish a shortage of drivers in Britain would only “run up to Christmas” because “we need to be paying these people more rather than just flooding the market with cheap labour”. The intervention came as at least 200 petrol stations across the country ran out of at least one type of fuel on Saturday night after private industry warnings of a shortage of HGV drivers were leaked to the media. The Government and the AA insisted that there was no shortage of fuel, with officials saying that panic buying was responsible for individual stations running dry between deliveries. Edmund King, the president of the AA, urged motorists to only fill up when running low. On …
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Dutch protest against COVID-19 vaccine pass to enter bars, restaurants
THE HAGUE, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters marched against the introduction of a "corona pass" in the Netherlands on Saturday, as proof of COVID-19 vaccination became compulsory to get into bars, restaurants, theatres and other venues. Hours after the requirement to show the pass or a recent negative coronavirus test took effect, the government of caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte sacked a cabinet minister who had publicly questioned the measure. Rutte's office said Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Mona Keijzer had been dismissed because her comments went against cabinet policy on an issue "of such importance and weight". The launch of the vaccination pass coincided with the lifting of almost all social distancing measures in the country, where 72% of the population has received at least one vaccine dose. read more While face masks will still be mandatory on public transport, students and teachers will no longer have to wear masks in schools, and a rule for …
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UK petrol crisis: Petrol stations limit drivers to £30 fuel as panic queues cause chaos
Delivery driver in Plymouth shares frustrations over petrol queues Sign up to receive our rundown of the day's top stories direct to your inbox SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Across the country Britons have been rushing to the fuel pumps to top up their tanks as a HGV driver shortage has caused some petrol stations to close and shortages across the country. One firm EG group who run 400 petrol stations have said they are limiting each customer to £30 max of fuel. The company have set limits in an attempt to cope with growing demand for fuel. Queues have caused traffic and driver delays on main roads across the UK. Queues in Dover have forced bus company Stagecoach South East to take to Twitter to warn people of the …
Analysis: India state refiners to buy more light crude to boost gasoline output
Summary India to buy more oil from U.S., Africa; less from Middle East State refiners to raise share of spot purchases in import mix Middle East share of India oil imports seen falling below 60% NEW DELHI/SINGAPORE, Sept 24 (Reuters) - Indian refiners are gearing up to alter their crude oil import mix in favour of lighter grades that yield more gasoline to meet a surge in demand for the motor fuel in Asia's third-largest economy, company officials and analysts said. Refiners in the world's No. 3 oil importer and consumer will increase imports of gasoline-yielding crudes from the United States and West Africa, while cutting heavier sour grades from the Middle East that yield more middle distillates like diesel and kerosene, they said. The move dovetails with an earlier push to reduce India's reliance on Middle East crudes to enhance energy security. read more "The gasoline demand is very, very strong, whereas diesel is lagging behind right now," said …
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Angry drivers honk horns as two mile petrol queue brings road to standstill
Footage has emerged of huge queues apparently stretching up to two miles as panic buyers descend on petrol stations in the capital. A video filmed by a pedestrian in Bounds Green, north London , shows fed up motorists beeping their horns in frustration as they wait to fill up. It comes as road users were branded selfish for filling up jerry cans of fuel loaded into their car boots – while almost 400 petrol stations have introduced a £30 limit to cope with ‘unprecedented’ demand. The crisis has prompted ministers to consider drafting in 5,000 drivers from outside Britain to help – despite the government previously insisting it would rely on training domestic drivers. Temporary visas could be offered to European drivers allowing them to work in the UK, in a desperate attempt to plug the estimated 100,000 shortfall of HGV drivers. The footage in Bounds Green was filmed by Carla Francome who described the beeping by motorists as ‘insane’. In another post, she …
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Las ciudades post-coronavirus: así va a transformar la pandemia el diseño urbano
El miedo a las multitudes, la distancia social, el teletrabajo, la prohibición de alejarse a más de un kilómetro de la vivienda, la pandemia del coronavirus y el confinamiento han cambiado nuestra forma de relacionarnos con la ciudad y también su diseño. Las primeras modificaciones han sido rápidas y circunstanciales como las restricciones de paso, las mamparas en los supermercados, las marcas en el suelo o los balcones reconvertidos en centros de la actividad social. Pero muchos de estos cambios, que van desde los materiales de construcción hasta la movilidad urbana, están asentando las bases permanentes de las ciudades post-coronavirus . Las epidemias y las ciudades "La arquitectura moderna tiene más que ver con la defensa de la salud que con cualquier otra cosa", defiende la arquitecta española Beatriz Colomina. Las enfermedades y los avances en el diseño de las ciudades han ido históricamente de la mano. A inicios del siglo XX, los arquitectos tomaron …