Starmer urges Brits to ‘act as normal’ as fuel shortage fears grow
Sir Keir Starmer has urged Britons to “act as normal” despite energy chiefs’ warning that there could be fuel shortages within days.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said that the UK had a “resilient and diverse” supply of energy sources as he played down the prospect of a fuel crisis.
“We will always plan for all eventualities,” the spokesman said.
“Fuel production and imports are continuing from diverse and resilient supply.
“When it comes to supplies people should and can continue to act as normal. There hasn’t been an immediate impact here in the UK.”
In recent weeks, some of the top officials working across global energy companies and retailers have warned that attacks on energy infrastructure in Iran, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, could set global economies up for a major supply crisis.
The most senior figure to warn of an imminent supply crisis was Shell’s boss Wael Sawan, who said shortages in Europe could be seen within weeks.
Allan Leighton, the executive chair of Asda, said demand was “outstripping supply” and that temporary shortages had affected “the odd pump”.
Airline industry bosses, particularly in Asia, have warned that a drop in shipments of jet fuel could put flights at risk.
The energy data provider Vortexa said European imports could drop by 40 per cent on the week to the lowest level since March 2022.
Starmer to hold emergency meeting
Nick Butler, a former Gordon Brown energy adviser who is an economics professor at King’s College London, said businesses would have to brace for a fuel supply crisis and consider giving staff an extra day of working from home each week to ration fuel.
He also said the government should be responsible for managing supplies.
“The government has to protect the key sectors of the economy – food supply, health service, schools and so on – and then it has to work out how it’s going to manage the market for the rest of us,” he told BBC News on the weekend.
“I don’t think they can just leave it to a free-for-all, which would be chaotic and very regressive and unfair to those of limited ability to pay. I don’t think it’s going to be ration books.”
On Monday, Starmer used a Labour local election rally to hit out at the Tories, Reform UK and the Greens over their stance on the war.
He has insisted that the UK did not join the war while Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage supported allowing bases to be used by the US for strikes on Iran.
The Prime Minister also hit out at Zack Polanski over the Green Party’s pledge to enter negotiations with nuclear powers for collective disarmament.
But Starmer may be left to deal with the economic consequences of the war, with economists fearing that the world economy could be plunged into a recession.
He is set to hold an emergency Cobra meeting with top government officials on Tuesday to discuss the cost of living pressures and impacts on the shipping, insurance and energy sectors.