Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Calls to prioritise key workers as UK fuel prices hit eight-year high

Calls to prioritise key workers as UK fuel prices hit eight-year high

THE UK government on Tuesday (28) faced calls for nurses, police and other key workers to be given priority at petrol pumps, as the army was put on standby to ease a fuel supply crisis.

Pump prices for fuel in the UK have reached their highest level in eight years as petrol stations run dry amid panic buying, The Guardian reported.


Figures from the RAC show the average price of a litre of petrol rose from 135.9p on Friday (24) to 136.6p on Sunday (26), the highest level since September 2013, as motorists scrambled to fill up their vehicles, the report added.

Meanwhile, UK transport minister pleaded with drivers on Tuesday to refrain from filling up old water bottles with fuel at gas stations after panic buying left pumps dry across major cities.

"We're starting to see very tentative signs of stabilisation which won't yet be reflected in the queues," Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky. He added that reserves at many gas stations had been replenished.

"The sooner we all return to our normal buying habits, the quicker this gets resolved - and I do appeal to the public to do that. In particular, no more water bottles at petrol stations: its dangerous and not helpful."

Filling stations across the country have seen long, snaking queues of frustrated motorists concerned that a shortage of tanker drivers could lead to pumps running dry.

But four days of panic-buying, even as the government insisted there was no shortage of fuel stocks, has left some frontline public sector workers unable to get to work.

The deputy chair of the British Medical Association, David Wrigley, called for "urgent action from the government today" to give healthcare workers priority access to fuel.

"We can't be waiting in queues for two or three hours for petrol or diesel when we have patients to see," he told Times Radio, as unions called for emergency powers to be used.

Patricia Marquis, director for England at the Royal College of Nursing, said the National Health service "cannot afford to lose any more staff because they're unable to travel".

"We already know some nursing staff are warning their employers they may not be able to attend tomorrow," she added.

The government maintains that a lack of tanker drivers to deliver fuel and unprecedented demand is behind the crisis, and the situation was likely to ease in the coming days.

Despite repeated denials throughout the day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson late Monday (27) announced that troops had been put on alert to step in if required.

Major fuel retailers, including BP, Shell and Esso, issued a statement on Monday evening suggesting queues at forecourts were likely to ease now most people had filled their tanks and urged the public to return to normal fuel-buying patterns.

As well as tanker drivers, the UK also has a shortage of truck drivers, with the resulting empty supermarket shelves and delivery delays stoking fears of Christmas shortages.

The government insists Europe is facing the same problem and has eased its post-Brexit immigration rules in the hope of enticing foreign truckers back.

But critics say the country's departure from the EU that took full effect in January, combined with the pandemic, is to blame, as thousands of overseas drivers returned home.

The main opposition Labour party's home affairs spokesman, Nick Thomas-Symonds, accused the government of "utter incompetence" and blamed it on its "handling of Brexit".

"The blame lies squarely with them, it lies with no-one else," he added.

More For You

Royal College of Physicians welcomes first Asian president

Dr Mumtaz Patel

Royal College of Physicians welcomes first Asian president

DR MUMTAZ PATEL has been elected as the 123rd president of the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), which represents 40,000 members around the world.

Born in Lancashire to Indian migrant parents, Patel is a consultant nephrologist who is based in Manchester.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-meeting

In the wake of the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, PM Modi chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee of Security in Delhi on Wednesday. (Photo: X/@narendramodi)

X/@narendramodi

India suspends Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan after Kashmir attack

INDIA has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan and taken other diplomatic measures after gunmen killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

The attack, which left 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali dead, is the deadliest targeting civilians in Kashmir in 25 years. Gunmen emerged from forests and fired on the crowd using automatic weapons.

Keep ReadingShow less
Terror attack in Pahalgam triggers tourist exodus

Security personnel inspect the site in the aftermath of an attack as food stall chairs lie empty in Pahalgam, about 90km (55 miles) from Srinagar on April 23, 2025. (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP via Getty Images)

Terror attack in Pahalgam triggers tourist exodus

INDIAN tourist brochures dub the Himalayan region of Kashmir "Little Switzerland", and its mountain meadows are usually packed with visitors escaping the sweltering summer heat in the lowland plains of India.

On Wednesday (23), a day after gunmen killed 26 men in an attack on the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah reported an "exodus of our guests".

Keep ReadingShow less
 Yvette Cooper

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has instructed officials to release the data, which includes the types of crimes committed.

Getty Images

Foreign criminals’ data to be released by year-end

THE UK government will publish the nationalities and offences of foreign criminals for the first time by the end of the year.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper has reportedly instructed officials to release the data, which includes the types of crimes committed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia to strengthen strategic ties

Prime minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday (22)

Modi arrives in Saudi Arabia to strengthen strategic ties

INDIA’S prime minister Narendra Modi arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah on Tuesday (22) for his third visit as prime minister to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom.

The trip came a day after Modi held talks with US vice-president JD Vance in India, with New Delhi looking to seal a trade deal with Washington and stave off punishing tariffs.

Keep ReadingShow less