Evening Standard Comment: From fuel to CO2, Johnson’s government risks lurching from crisis to crisis

If Boris Johnson thought that coming out of lockdown would be followed by sunlit uplands or even a period of mild calm, he was mistaken.

The country has been buffeted by a flurry of crises of differing magnitude, some global, others a result of policy decisions closer to home.

Take BP, which has been forced to close some of its petrol temporarily stations. Britain does not have a shortage of fuel, rather a chronic lack of HGV drivers to transport it.

The Conservatives will be only too aware that the only time Tony Blair looked in serious trouble in his first term was during the fuel duty protests of 2000. Emmanuel Macron will also have a word or two to say about the gilet jaunes.

Not every shortage is a result of Brexit or of the Government’s own making. But our exit from the EU has clearly affected the supply of HGV drivers, with the UK facing a 100,000 shortfall.

There are now suggestions the Army could be brought in to ensure supplies continue to flow. The Government must do whatever it takes to ensure the security of supply, before panic spreads.

Otherwise, it could start to feed into a general sense of chaos and drift, as the country swerves from crisis to crisis, shortage to shortage, at which point the public may well turn to the Leader of the Opposition.

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