Inside Politics: Johnson to put army ‘on standby’ as petrol stations run dry

PM to hold emergency cabinet meeting as crisis deepens amid unprecedented demand, writes Matt Mathers

(PA)

Is it time to send in the army? That’s a call Boris Johnson could well make later today as the ongoing supply chain crisis worsens and petrol stations begin to run dry. Cabinet meets to discuss plans for soldiers to drive tankers to forecourts. Elsewhere, Labour conference continues following a difficult Sunday for party leader Keir Starmer.

Inside the bubble

The prime minister holds an emergency cabinet meeting this morning to discuss Britain’s fuel supply crisis. Elsewhere, the Labour conference continues with a number of set-piece speeches from the main stage. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, is among the big names to address the conference at 12pm.

Coming up:

– London mayor Sadiq Khan on Times Radio Breakfast at 8.05am

– Rachel Reeves on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

Daily Briefing

PUMP UP THE JAM: Boris Johnson will today decide whether or not to send in the army to fill up petrol stations amid Britain’s ongoing supply chain crisis. It’s understood that more than half of all non-motorway petrol stations have run dry and ministers have suspended competition laws to allow companies to co-ordinate more quickly. With pictures of long queues plastered all over Sunday’s papers Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, toured the broadcast studios and doubled down on bizarre claims that industry leaders were responsible for the chaos, which they strongly denied. The government has announced 5,000 emergency visas for foreign lorry drivers to come to the UK to ease the crisis but Labour leader Keir Starmer says some 100,000 drivers are needed to fix the problem, which is also impacting supermarkets and other businesses.

MAKE MY DAY: Sunday was a difficult day for Starmer at his first in-person Labour Party conference, although it was one that ended in victory for the leader. Conference voted in favour of watered-down changes to the party’s rule book which will make it harder for leadership candidates to get on the ballot – a move aimed at preventing MPs like Jeremy Corbyn from becoming leader again. The changes also make it more difficult for local party members to deselect MPs. Starmer allies say the changes are a major step forward in helping the party back to power but the left-wing Momentum group branded them a “self-inflicted blow to democracy in our party”.

BURNHAM SWIPE: Earlier, Starmer had an uncomfortable interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr, where he ruled out nationalising energy supplies, in an apparent breach of a leadership election pledge. He also rebuked Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader for calling Tory ministers scum – comments she is refusing to apologise for. He also appeared to contradict Rachel Reeves, Labour’s shadow chancellor, on future tax rises. Elsewhere, Andy Burnham took a swipe at Starmer for focusing on internal battles over Labour’s party rulebook rather than taking the fight to the Conservatives at the annual conference in Brighton. The Greater Manchester mayor said he was “impatient” to hear a “convincing vision” from Labour about how it would improve the lives of people in the north, warning that voters will stop listening if the party fails to put forward clear plans soon.

GRADUATE HIT: Ministers are reportedly planning to lower the salary level at which graduates start to repay their student loan, in a move that has already sparked opposition MPs to accuse the Tories of “widening the gap” further for low-earning workers. Chancellor Rishi Sunak reportedly wants to overhaul student financing in his spending review ahead of October’s Budget, according to the Financial Times, over concerns in the Treasury that the taxpayer foots too large a bill for university courses.

‘QUADRUPLE WHAMMY’: A number of experts and equality groups have accused the government of failing to protect high-risk ethnic minority groups during the Covid-19 pandemic while rates of vaccine hesitancy continue to grow among parts of these communities. Dr Zubaida Haque, a member of Independent SAGE, told The Independent that ministers have done little to mitigate the risks facing many despite extensive research highlighting the problems. “It’s almost a quadruple whammy - minority ethnic communities are more overexposed because of their circumstances, less protected in that they’re less likely to take up the vaccine because their fears and concerns are not being robustly addressed, then we’ve got higher infection rates and few mitigations,” she said.

On the record

“When it comes to common ownership, I’m pragmatic about this. I do not agree with the argument that says we must be ideological. Where common ownership is value for money for the taxpayer and delivers better services, then there should be common ownership.”

Starmer rules out nationalising energy in interview with the BBC’s Andrew Marr.

From the Twitterati

“Grant Shapps currently throwing ‘one of the haulage associations’ under the…well, under the truck I suppose.”

Daily Mirror Whitehall correspondent Mikey Smith pokes fun at Grant Shapps interview with Sky News.

Essential reading

• Jess Phillips, The Independent: Infighting and cynicism won’t help – Labour has to get back to being a party of potential government
• Sean O’Grady, The Independent: Angela Rayner knows using the word ‘scum’ still doesn’t compare to some of Boris Johnson’s remarks
• Stephen Bush, New Statesman: Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer have the same problem
• Paul Embery, UnHerd: Does Sir Keir have the guts to rescue Labour?

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