Boris, Brexit, or bad timing? Why are we running out of stuff?
Nationwide fuel shortages have gripped the nation this past week and sent many of us on a frenzied drive-by search for a petrol station that isn’t closed.
Statements have been issued by certain suppliers, such as BP, saying; ‘There are no fuel shortages in the UK. However, due to panic buying a third of our stations are now left empty.’’ Although released to calm the nation it does raise the question as to how, if there are no shortages, we have ended up in this situation.
One suggested theory is that it may be caused by Boris Johnson’s extreme interpretation of Brexit: the introduction of hard trade barriers coupled with the restrictions now in place for European workers.
Another thought is that the current issues are an after-effect, following the global pandemic.
What is most likely is that a mixture of these two causes have resulted in our current shortages.
And these shortages are not only limited to fuel supplies; there have been supermarket shelves appearing emptier and energy prices soaring due to unusually low gas supplies. The spike in natural gas and electricity costs has been driven partly by a cold start to the year, with a chillier-than-average Spring. And soaring energy prices are also a problem across Europe. However it seems that the problem is most acute in the UK due to a lack of large natural gas storage facilities and delayed maintenance work.
What are your thoughts on the reasoning behind our current shortages? Are they simply unfortunately-timed and unrelated issues, or are they all owing to the same cause?
Statements have been issued by certain suppliers, such as BP, saying; ‘There are no fuel shortages in the UK. However, due to panic buying a third of our stations are now left empty.’’ Although released to calm the nation it does raise the question as to how, if there are no shortages, we have ended up in this situation.
One suggested theory is that it may be caused by Boris Johnson’s extreme interpretation of Brexit: the introduction of hard trade barriers coupled with the restrictions now in place for European workers.
Another thought is that the current issues are an after-effect, following the global pandemic.
What is most likely is that a mixture of these two causes have resulted in our current shortages.
And these shortages are not only limited to fuel supplies; there have been supermarket shelves appearing emptier and energy prices soaring due to unusually low gas supplies. The spike in natural gas and electricity costs has been driven partly by a cold start to the year, with a chillier-than-average Spring. And soaring energy prices are also a problem across Europe. However it seems that the problem is most acute in the UK due to a lack of large natural gas storage facilities and delayed maintenance work.
What are your thoughts on the reasoning behind our current shortages? Are they simply unfortunately-timed and unrelated issues, or are they all owing to the same cause?
