UK readies soldiers to help ease gas shortages at pumps

LONDON — The British government put dozens of soldiers on standby Monday to help easy fuel supply problems caused by a shortage of truck drivers, a situation that has spurred panic buying of gasoline across the country.

As unions called for emergency workers to be given priority for fuel supplies, the government said it was placing British army tanker drivers in “a state of readiness in order to be deployed if required to deliver fuel to where it is needed most.”

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said Britain had “strong supplies of fuel.”

“However, we are aware of supply chain issues at fuel station forecourts and are taking steps to ease these as a matter of priority,” he said.

Long lines of vehicles have formed at many gas stations around Britain since Friday, causing spillover traffic jams on busy roads. Tempers have frayed as some drivers waited for hours. The Petrol Retailers Association, which represents almost 5,500 independent outlets, said Sunday that about two-thirds of its members had run out of fuel, as the truck driver shortage set off rounds of gas panic-buying.

The Conservative government insisted blamed the problems on consumer behavior.

“The only reason we don’t have petrol on the forecourts is that people are buying petrol they don’t need,” said Environment Secretary George Eustice.

Major fuel firms said in a joint statement that they expected demand for gas to “return to its normal levels in the coming days.”

“We would encourage people to buy fuel as they usually would,” the statement said.

But critics urged the government to get fuel flowing so the shortage does not have damaging spillover effects on health care, police operations and other crucial sectors.