Markus Andrews

Boris Johnson’s government has drafted in a former senior military commander to carry out a far-ranging overhaul of leadership in the NHS and social care.General Sir Gordon Messenger, an ex-vice chief of the defence staff, will conduct the most far-reaching review the sector in England has seen in 40 years, the government claimed.The move, on the eve of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, follows the announcement last month of a £12bn-a-year cash injection to help the health service catch up after the pandemic.Ministers said they wanted the former military chief to make sure “every pound of investment is well spent” while driving innovation and more efficient ways of working.Health secretary Sajid Javid claimed Sir Gordon’s efficiency drive “will help make sure individuals and families get the care and treatment they need”.The announcement is designed to reflect the key themes of Mr Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda which is expected to feature heavily at the Tory conference in the coming week.Michael Gove was made Levelling Up Secretary in charge of a beefed-up communities and local government ministry underlining its central importance to Mr Johnson’s vision for the future.But the push to make the Conservatives the party of the NHS was dealt a blow when the prime minister sparked outrage by saying “never mind” about cancer death rates and the recent fall in life expectancy.Grilled about his plans for Britain’s recovery from the Covid crisis, Mr Johnson chose to emphasis economic growth over health measures.Pointing to the recent growth in wages, he told the BBC: “I’ve given you the most important metric – never mind life expectancy, never mind cancer outcomes – look at wage growth.”Labour pounced on the remarks, accusing the PM of showing an “outrageous” disregard for the health of British citizens.Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told The Independent: “Boris Johnson starts his conference with the most chilling words ever spoken from a prime minister dismissing the importance of cancer outcomes.”Meanwhile, Mr Javid risked a row with trade unions and care home provider after saying care home workers who are not willing to get the Covid jab should “get out and get another job”.There are other storm clouds hanging over the Tory conference – not least the continuing fuel crisis with motorists in some part of the country still facing long queues.Businesses, from meat processors to retailers, have warned of empty shelves and delays to deliveries unless immigration rules are relaxed to allow in more overseas workers.Fifteen million households are also facing an increase of at least £139 in their energy bills as a result of the latest Ofgem price which came into force on Friday.It coincides with the phasing out of the £20-a-week uplift in universal credit payments, brought in at the start of the pandemic, as well as the ending of the furlough scheme which helped protect more than 11 million jobs.Household budgets will take a further hit from next April when national insurance contributions rise by 1.25 per cent to pay for the government’s investment in the NHS and social care. More

Home secretary Priti Patel has said police forces must “raise the bar” by taking harassment and flashing of women more seriously.The cabinet minister condemned a “postcode lottery” which saw some police forces in England and Wales treat these offences as “low level”.It comes as Boris Johnson also issued a strong rebuke to the police – saying the failure to tackle harassment and other forms of violence against women was “infuriating”.Ms Patel told the Daily Telegraph: “I would say to all women: give voice to these issues, please … There is something so corrosive in society if people think that it’s OK to harass women verbally, physically, and in an abusive way on the street and all that kind of stuff.”The home secretary added: “I want women to have the confidence to call it out. I don’t see all of this as low level. I don’t want to see postcode lotteries around the country.“This is a very clear message to police to raise the bar: treat everybody in the right way. Make sure that when these crimes or concerns are reported, people are treated with respect, dignity and seriously.”Mr Johnson says it is “infuriating” that cases involving violence against women and girls are not being taken seriously enough by police and take too long to process through the criminal justice system.The prime minister also said too many women are “finding their lives lost to this system” while waiting and hoping for their cases to be taken seriously.Mr Johnson made his comments after talks with Metropolitan Police commissioner Dame Cressida Dick on Thursday following the whole life conviction given to serving officer Wayne Couzens this week for the kidnap, rape and murder of London woman Sarah Everard.Speaking to The Times, Mr Johnson said: “Are the police taking this issue seriously enough? It’s infuriating. I think the public feel that they aren’t and they’re not wrong.”He added: “Do I fundamentally believe the police are on our side? Yes, absolutely they are. Can you trust the police? Yes you can. But there is an issue about how we handle sexual violence, domestic violence – the sensitivity, the diligence, the time, the delay, the confusion about your mobile phone. That’s the thing we need to fix.”The PM said police were realising that when they made arrests in such cases “they’re not getting through the system fast enough” and that this “may well be one of the reasons why they’re not doing enough to help the victims that report”.Meanwhile, police have also come under fire for suggesting women should flag down a bus, amid other advice, if they have concerns when stopped by an officer.Both Scotland Yard and ministers were accused of having a tone-deaf response to violence against women and girls after a string of suggestions over what action the public should take if they fear an officer is not acting legitimately.Other advice – including shouting to a passer-by, running to a house, knocking on a door, or calling 999 – was also met with heavy criticism, with one MP branding it “derisory”.Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change. The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it.”Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said on Twitter: “We want to know what the Met are doing to address the deeply rooted problems with violence against women within the force. This completely derisory advice shows they’re still not taking it seriously.”The Met stressed the advice was given for specific, and rare, scenarios in which people doubted the identity of any solo plain clothes police officer engaging with them.It comes as a new YouGov survey found 38 per cent of adults in the UK think Dame Cressida should quit as Met chief, while 27 per cent said she should stay and 35 per cent did not know. More

Boris Johnson has sparked outrage on the eve of the Conservative Party conference after saying “never mind” about cancer death rates and the recent fall in life expectancy.Grilled about his plans for Britain’s recovery from the Covid crisis, the prime minister chose to emphasis economic growth over health measures.Pointing to the recent growth in wages, Mr Johnson told the BBC: “I’ve given you the most important metric – never mind life expectancy, never mind cancer outcomes – look at wage growth.”Opposition parties pounced the prime minister’s remarks, with Labour accusing him of showing an “outrageous” disregard for the health of British citizens.Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth told The Independent: “Boris Johnson starts his conference with the most chilling words ever spoken from a prime minister dismissing the importance of cancer outcomes.”The Labour MP added: “If cancer incidence and survival rates across the poorest matched the wealthier there would be 19,000 fewer deaths per year. Life expectancy has stalled for those in the poorest areas.“There is no levelling up without levelling up health. It’s now clearer than ever that all Boris Johnson offers is just glib words and no action.” The SNP’s Ian Blackford also shared the clip of Mr Johnson’s comments in an interview with BBC Northern Ireland. “Every citizen should see this insight into the thinking of our PM,” said the party’s Westminster leader.Mr Blackford claimed the prime minister was “literally prepared to sacrifice our health”.Dr Clive Peedle, a consultant clinical oncologist and NHS campaigner, said: “As a cancer doctor in the North East of England, I find Boris Johnson’s comments abhorrent.”The NHS cancer specialist added: “Wage growth is only beneficial if wealth inequality is addressed, but his government has no intention of tackling this.”Among the many Labour MPs sharing the clip of Mr Johnson’s BBC interview, left-wing stalwart Ian Lavery tweeted: “Ghastly appalling disregard for our people.”Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting – the shadow secretary for child poverty – said millions of people do mind about cancer outcomes. “This is stomach-turning, insightful and outrageous,” he tweeted on Mr Johnson’s remarks.Life expectancy for men has fallen for the first time since records began, government figures revealed in September – as the higher-than-usual deaths caused by the pandemic begin to make an impact.More than half a million cancer patients are missing out on vital healthcare support due to severe staff shortages across the NHS, new research from Macmillan Cancer Support revealed last month.One in four of people who were diagnosed with cancer in the last two years have gone without proper support from a specialist nurse during that time, equating to roughly 630,000 patients, the charity said.The row over health measures comes as Mr Johnson drafts in a former senior military commander to carry out a far-ranging overhaul of leadership in the NHS and social care sector.The government said General Sir Gordon Messenger, an ex-vice chief of the defence staff, would conduct the most far-reaching review the sector in England has seen in 40 years.Meanwhile, elsewhere in his interview with BBC Northern Ireland, Mr Johnson also said the Northern Ireland Protocol “could in principle work” but it will be a case of “fixing it or ditching it”.The prime minister did not rule out triggering Article 16 to suspend the crucial part of his Brexit deal with the EU.Asked if he planned to trigger Article 16 during the Conservative Party’s conference next week, Mr Johnson replied: “That depends on the response from the EU.” More

The UK faces a competitive battle with EU countries to attract more lorry drivers and ease the fuel and food supply crisis, a cabinet minister has admitted.It comes as the government announced a U-turn on its emergency visa scheme, relenting to pressure from food and fuel industry chiefs by extending its temporary visa schemes beyond Christmas Eve.The visa scheme for nearly 5,000 foreign food haulage drivers – who can arrive from late October – will now be extended to the end of February in a desperate bid to avoid chaos over the festive period.Some 300 of the haulage drivers will be encouraged to come to Britain immediately and allowed to stay until the end of March.Health secretary Sajid Javid said he was “confident” the scheme would encourage more EU drivers to work in the UK. “Of course there is competition for drivers – that’s taking place throughout Europe,” he told Sky News.Describing the shortage of drivers as an “international problem”, Mr Javid said: “In the short term I think it’s right to try to see we can get more drivers [from abroad]. I think that will work.”The government has asked thousands of German nationals living in the UK to drive lorries to assist with the drastic shortage – even if they have never driven one before, The Independent revealed on Friday.The Department for Transport letters were also sent out letters to thousands of firefighters, urging them to consider giving up life-saving jobs to take up haulage driving, it has emerged.Mr Javid claimed the fuel situation is already “stabilising” and “heading in the right direction” in most parts of the country and the military is being deployed only as a “precaution”.But the Petrol Retailers Association – said fuel supply remains a “big problem” in south-east of England, despite improving in Scotland, the north of England and parts of the Midlands.Brian Madderson, PRA chairman, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the situation in London and south-east England had got worse, and said the military drivers set to fill from Monday will be a “large help”.Army drivers will be deployed to deliver fuel to forecourts from Monday as the crisis at the pumps continues. Almost 200 military personnel – including 100 drivers – have been training at haulier sites and will start deliveries to help relieve the pressure at petrol stations.Meanwhile, chancellor Rishi Sunak has conceded that shortages of goods could continue in the run-up to Christmas. “These shortages are very real,” he told the Daily Mail.He added: “We’re seeing real disruptions in supply chains in different sectors, not just here but around the world … My kids will be very upset with me if there isn’t a proper Christmas.”Speaking to The Times on the eve of the Conservative conference, Boris Johnson did not rule out supply disruption at Christmas. “What I confidently predict is that this Christmas will be considerably better than last Christmas,” he said.Insisting there would be no further increase in the 5,000 visas for lorry drivers, Mr Johnson said “you can’t simply reach for the lever marked ‘uncontrolled immigration’”.The government also said 5,500 poultry workers will also be allowed in to keep supermarket shelves stocked with turkeys before Christmas as part a series of announcements made on Friday evening.The government has said these poultry workers, who can arrive from late October, will be able to stay up to 31 December under the temporary visa scheme.It comes as opposition parties raised the prospect of a parliamentary recall to address wider labour shortages and supply chain disruption.Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the temporary visa scheme would not be up and running “for weeks”, and added that Mr Johnson should, if necessary, recall parliament to rush through legislation to ensure the shelves remain stocked.The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the prime minister “must immediately recall parliament and convene cross-party talks to set out steps to effectively tackle the Brexit crisis”. More

Care home workers who are not willing to get the Covid jab should “get out and get another job”, the health secretary Sajid Javid has said in a stinging attack on vaccine refuseniks.Trade unions and care home providers have warned that the sector faces a staffing crisis if thousands of workers lose their jobs for failing a legal requirement to get the vaccine.The National Care Association has called for a pause in compulsory vaccinations, arguing that the policy could lead to substandard care or see some homes having to shut their doors.Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme if he would consider a pause, Mr Javid said: “No, I won’t. What I don’t accept is slowing down the requirement to vaccinate.”The health secretary said: “Look, if you want to work in care home, you are working with some of the most vulnerable people in our country. And if you can’t be bothered to go and get vaccinated, then get out and go and get another job.”Mr Javid added: “If you want to look after [vulnerable people], if you want to feed them, if you want to put them to bed, then you should get vaccinated. If you’re not going to get vaccinated then why are working in care?”Asked how the country would cope with staff shortages if tens of thousands of care workers quit the sector, Mr Javid said: “There are other people … who will come forward.”Mr Javid also said he was disappointed by reports that at least five members of the men’s England football squad are refusing to be vaccinated against Covid.“It is disappointing, of course it is … They are role models in society,” he told Times Radio. “People, especially young people, I think will look up to them and they should recognise that and the difference that can make in terms of encouraging others.”Nadra Ahmed, executive chairman of the National Care Association, has estimated that 70,000 people could be forced to leave the sector because of mandatory vaccination.She told the BMJ some the departure of staff was already having a serious impact. “We’ve heard of providers shutting the doors, they just can’t go on any more.”Care home workers in England were told to have their first Covid jab by the end of 16 September to meet the government’s deadline for full vaccination of 11 November.Mr Javid also said he was disappointed by reports that at least five members of the men’s England football squad are refusing to be vaccinated against Covid.Last month the Department of Health and Social Care said that more than 90 per cent of eligible social care staff had received a first dose by the deadline, and around 84 per cent had already been given a second dose.Mr Javid also waded into a row over the push to get GPs doing more face-to-face appointments – insisting that the return to pre-pandemic normality “needs to move much faster”.Leading professional bodies has pushed back against calls for face-to-face appointments to become the default again, warned that Covid infection levels were still too high for practices to return to packed waiting rooms.Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners, told MPs last month: “There’s no point in having a right if it’s undeliverable at the moment because of the workload pressures.”The health secretary told Today: “We are in discussion with GP leaders. We need to work together to make sure we can give patients more of the choice they are asking for.”Mr Javid added: “There are patients who might prefer remote consultation. But there are others who prefer face to face. To get where we need to be there has to be a partnership with GPs, working together to alleviate some of the pressures they face.”It comes as ministers have drafted in a former senior military commander to carry out a far-ranging overhaul of leadership in the health and social care sector.The government said General Sir Gordon Messenger, an ex-vice chief of the defence staff, would conduct the most far-reaching review the sector in England has seen in 40 years. More

The Metropolitan Police was today facing a furious backlash over “laughable” advice that women in fear of a police officer should flag down a bus or run away in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard. Labour domestic abuse spokesperson Jess Phillips branded the suggestion “unbelievable”, while the former leader of Conservatives in Scotland, Ruth Davidson, described it as “horrendous”.As calls for Met chief Cressida Dick’s dismissal intensified, Boris Johnson attempted to shore up trust in the police, insisting that they do “a wonderful”, but acknowledged that there was a problem with the way that allegations of violence against women and girls are dealt with.Meanwhile, a Conservative police and crime commissioner, Philip Allott, was forced to apologise after he said women should be “streetwise” and Ms Everard should not have “submitted” to being falsely arrested and handcuffed by off-duty officer Wayne Couzens – who went on to rape and kill her.Ministers were coming under intense pressure to amend the policing bill currently going through parliament to make tackling violence against women and girls a formal priority for serious violence units across England and Wales. Only eight of the 18 units currently in operation have included domestic abuse as a priority in their plans.Tory peer Gabby Bertin, who is fighting for the change, told The Independent that the government argues the units should be able to determine priorities locally.But she said: “This isn’t like knife crime or gun crime, which may be a priority in one area and not another. Violence against women and girls is a priority everywhere and preventing it and responding to it should be made a duty everywhere.”Writing in The Independent, Ms Phillips said that the whole-life sentence handed down to Couzens on Thursday should be a “pivotal moment” for the way violence against women and girls is treated in the UK.“We must turn anger into action and grief into policy change,” she said. “There are things the government can and must do to end violence against women and girls, and they must do them today.”It was “unbelievable” that the Met should respond by putting the onus on women to act if they fear a police officer is a risk to them, she said.Advice issued by the force on Thursday suggested that women approached by a lone plain-clothes officer should demand to know why he has no colleagues with him and ask him to prove who he is, before adding that they could “shout out to a passer-by, run into a house, knock on a door, wave a bus down or call 999”.Ms Phillips responded: “How about the Met gets on with the job of telling us how they are going to improve their vetting, monitoring, training and disciplinary processes, rather than telling women to deal with the problem for them? How about the government tells us how they are going to ensure this is standard across every police force?”Patsy Stevenson, who was arrested at a vigil for Ms Everard in the days following her murder, said the advice was “almost laughable if it wasn’t so disgusting”.“In that situation you can’t just stop and hail down a bus or a taxi or something,” she said.“Can you imagine the distrust that people have right now where they have to protect themselves from the police in that manner? That is shocking.”Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “It’s not up to women to fix this. It’s not us who need to change.“The problem is male violence, not women’s ‘failure’ to find ever more inventive ways to protect ourselves against it.”And the chief executive of domestic abuse charity Refuge, Ruth Davison, said: “Police forces across the country must be prepared for a fundamental shift and overhaul in their attitudes towards women and root out the misogyny that is at the heart of these failings.”Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare wrote to Dame Cressida demanding “clarification” of the advice, which she said had been greeted with “ridicule and derision” in her south London constituency.“The idea that a young black constituent could run away from a police officer attempting to arrest them and not face severe consequences is, frankly, unbelievable,” said Ms Oppong-Asare.Former Lord Chancellor Charlie Falconer said it appeared both the government and the Met Police were simply hoping that “the storm passes without the need for change in senior personnel or practice”.Lord Falconer warned: “Unless there are massive visible changes as quickly as possible, confidence will not begin to edge back.”But the only reform on offer from Mr Johnson when he spoke to broadcasters was an effort to shorten delays between a complaint being lodged by a woman and the case reaching court.Instead, the PM focused on a message of reassurance: “I do believe in the police. I do think that we can trust the police. And I think the police do a wonderful, wonderful job.“But there is a problem. And there is a problem in the way we handle rape, domestic violence, sexual violence and the way we handle the complaints of women and girls.Defending the government’s refusal to make prioritising the fight against violence against women and girls as a statutory duty, policing minister Kit Malthouse said that the legislation had been drawn in a way that would allow local areas to “design their own strategies about the violence that particularly affects them”.He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If there are areas that particularly want to focus on violence against woman and girls and feel they have a systemic problem, then the duty allows them to do that.”Ms Phillips described the comment as an “insult”, adding: “Imagine him saying that about terrorism – ‘Do it if you want’.”Former Met commissioner John Stevens has said Ms Dick should be held accountable for an “appalling series of blunders” that allowed the recruitment of Couzens as a firearms officer.But he stopped short of demanding her resignation, saying that “both the commissioner and the politicians who have cut resources to the Met must take some responsibility”.Cuts during Theresa May’s time as home secretary had “hollowed out the centre of the force”, said Lord Stevens.The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating allegations that five serving officers and one former officer shared “discriminatory messages” with Couzens in WhatsApp texts discovered during the police investigation into Ms Everard’s murder. More

Government asks German residents to drive lorries even if they never have beforeUK shoppers have been warned they should buy their Christmas dinner soon and put it in the freezer to avoid disappointment, as Boris Johnson’s plan to give 5,000 foreign lorry drivers temporary visas continues to be panned. The government hopes that workers brought in from overseas will help “save” the holiday but food and haulage industry leaders were quick to pour cold water on the scheme.“Ultimately, now I think we have just run out of time,” James Withers, of Scotland Food & Drink, told The Independent. “I don’t think there is anything that can be done now to get the Christmas trade where it should be.”It comes as it was revealed ministers have urged thousands of Germans living in the UK to drive lorries in a bid to assist with the HGV shortage – even if they have never driven one before.Germans based in Britain were sent a letter by the Department for Transport, signed by transport minister Baroness Vere, asking them to “consider returning” to the HGV driving sector. “Your valuable skills and experience have never been more needed than they are now,” it states, as the government scrambles to counter shortages. Follow our live coverage belowShow latest update

1633071445Good morning, and welcome to The Independent’s rolling political coverage. Stay tuned as we bring you the latest updates from Westminster. Sam Hancock1 October 2021 07:571633071871PM hands ministerial job to banker who gave Tories £147,500Financier Malcolm Offord, who has gifted £147,500 to the Conservative Party, has been appointed as a junior minister at the Scotland Office.Since he is not an elected official, he will be given a lifetime peerage so that he can assume the role.The move has seen Boris Johnson accused of “rampant cronyism”, with Fiona Hyslop, an MSP for Linlithgow, noting the irony of Mr Offord’s recent failed bid to became an MSP. “You have more chance becoming a Tory Scotland Office minister if you are rejected by voters in a Scottish election than elected by them,” she tweeted.The Scottish Greens also hit out at the prime minister, with its MSP Gillian Mackay branding the decision “a disgrace,” reports Rory Sullivan.Sam Hancock1 October 2021 08:041633072316Home Office and other govt departments ‘failing to meet transparency commitments’Government departments have been accused, once again, of being dishonest when it comes to reporting meetings taken by senior government ministers.The Institute for Government (IfG) think-tank said its analysis of data published between July 2015 and March 2021 relating to who ministers, civil servants and special advisers meet and hospitality received, showed that some departments are not meeting their transparency commitments.IfG found the Foreign Office, Ministry of Justice and the Home Office to be the worst performers, citing instances of the wrong data being published, as well as incomplete and late data.It said the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not publish any information on meetings held by ministers or officials between September 2020, when it was first set up through a merger, and September this year. And it said the Home Office has published the required data on senior officials’ meetings in just three of 23 quarters between the 2015 election and March 2021.The Treasury described the purpose of five meetings held by its permanent secretary between July and September in 2018 only as “meeting”, according to the think-tank. A report from IfG says: “Departments’ transparency releases on senior leaders are often late, of poor quality, and are sometimes difficult to find. Things have got worse during the pandemic, but performance was already patchy.” More

Keir Starmer has warned that Boris Johnson’s failure to “get a grip” of the HGV driver shortage is threatening to ruin Christmas for a second year.The Labour leader said the shortfall of lorry drivers – estimated at around 100,000 by road haulage bodies – was likely to hit more sectors of the economy in the coming months, causing further chaos of the kind seen in the current petrol crisis.He demanded the immediate deployment of military drivers currently being trained to supply civilian service stations with fuel, as well as extended opening hours to ensure that NHS shift workers and other key staff can get petrol for their cars.He called for an emergency summit involving ministers, hauliers, businesses, transport unions and training providers to address the issues of pay, terms, training, licensing and conditions behind the labour shortages.And he said parliament should be recalled to authorise the immediate issue of new visas for overseas truck drivers. The offer of temporary three-month visas for 5,000 foreign drivers cannot take effect without a change to immigration rules which can only happen when the House of Commons is sitting, but MPs are not due to return to Westminster until 18 October, meaning overseas drivers could not start work until November, he said.“We’re going to see this driver shortage problem coming back again in different sectors,” said Starmer.” And I don’t want people in this country to have another Christmas ruined by this prime minister’s lack of planning.“By the government’s own admission, their scheme won’t be up and running for weeks with the first HGV drivers not on the roads until November. This simply isn’t good enough.“Every day wasted is prolonging this crisis. The government has been talking about issuing visas but still hasn’t done anything. Meanwhile our essential workers are struggling to get to work and families face a cost of living crisis.“The prime minister should be taking emergency action today but yet again he’s failed to grasp the seriousness of the crisis. If it needs legislation, then let’s recall parliament to get these emergency measures through urgently.”Sir Keir added: “The Prime Minister promised to save Christmas last year and we all know that went disastrously wrong. Now he’s making the same empty promises again.“Boris Johnson was warned about this crisis and he did nothing about it. He had the chance to make a plan but ignored it. The prime minister needs to get a grip.”Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today said that recruitment issues in the haulage industry were part of the post-Brexit transition away from a “low-wage high-immigration” economic model.Speaking to the ConservativeHome website, Mr Kwarteng said that some employers were trying to use public pressure over shortages to push the government into reopening the door to cheap migrant labour.But he agreed that the government must “tough it out” and predicted the disruption caused by the expected move to a higher-wage economy would last no more than a year.Mr Kwarteng said that supply issues at petrol stations were now “stabilising” after reaching “full-blown crisis” levels at the weekend.The business department (BEIS) said that the number of forecourts which have run out of one or more types of fuel was down from around 1,800 at the weekend to 573 now. Shortages were more acute in London and the South-East, but all nations and regions of the UK were “heading in the right direction”, said a source.But the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said that more than a quarter (27 per cent) of the nation’s service stations still have no fuel, and another 20 per cent have only one grade in stock, based on a survey of its members.PRA executive director Gordon Balmer told Bloomberg Radio: “It will take a number of weeks to get it back to more normal running levels.”A source close to Mr Kwarteng dismissed Sir Keir’s call for military drivers to be rushed into service getting fuel to petrol stations now.“They are being asked to drive highly flammable liquid around the country,” he said. “It’s a complex job and they are being trained by commercial companies now and it would be wrong to deploy them before their training is complete. You can’t just turn them on and off.”An initial 75 military drivers have been put on stand-by, with a further 75 available if needed. The Ministry of Defence said that training was ongoing but was unable to say when the first drivers would be ready to take up duties in civilian tankers.Home Office minister Kit Malthouse suggestsed that shortages at the petrol pumps may persist for another “week or so” – but said no-one was to blame for the situation, which has seen fighting on forecourts and queues of an hour or more.Apparently reluctant to blame the public for panic buying, Mr Malthouse asked on LBC radio: “Does it have to be somebody’s fault?”There were “complicated reasons about the stimulation of demand in a period which people are anxious”, he added. More