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Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

reuters.com

61–70 of 352 posts

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#61
post #5

> "The free movement of labour is part of the European Union, and we tried very hard to convince the British not to leave the Union," said Olaf Scholz, the Social Democrat candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor. "They decided differently. I hope they will manage the problems coming from that," Scholz said. Man, I can smell the schadenfreude from all the way over here.

You definitely get the impression that the other EU members intend to punish the UK for leaving.

I guess your ex wife not giving you a blowjob after your divorce would probably give you the impression she was 'punishing you for leaving'.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#63
post #39
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If this is true, this should only inconvenience people for a week or two. Unlike toilet paper, average citizens don't really have a way to store 100x more than their normal weekly consumption of petrol. So if there are no supply issues and only some distribution challenges, demand will slump off once everyone has had a chance to fill their tank and the 1-2 jerrycans they may have lying around.

Panic buy Jerry-cans!

[deleted]

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You definitely get the impression that the other EU members intend to punish the UK for leaving.

What would they need to do to convince you they don't intend to punish the UK? Would they try to force migrant workers to work in the UK, even against applicable UK law? Other EU politicians have been quite diplomatic and friendly during the whole thing. A lot unlike a certain Prime Minister from a former EU member I could name.

Just an observation. Ever since the announcement it seems like various groups on Reddit and elsewhere want to celebrate every difficulty that the UK experiences.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#65
post #2

Appears to be _mostly_ a mediagenic phenomenon: the driver shortage caused a few stations to run out, a minister told everyone not to panic buy, so they immediately started panic buying. Like the great toilet paper shortage. The lorry driver shortage inflicted by Brexit is starting to cause problems, though.

"Appears to be _mostly_ a mediagenic phenomenon: the driver shortage caused a few stations to run out".

I believe it's more serious than just a mediagenic phenomenon, with only a few stations affected. From The Guardian: "Ministers are considering a range of options after BP said a third of its petrol stations had run out of the main two grades of fuel, while the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents almost 5,500 independent outlets, said 50% to 90% of its members had reported running out. It predicted the rest would soon follow." (https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/sep/27/eu-lorry-dr...)

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it was unclear as to why there is no gas. Is it because there are no drivers to drive the gas to the stations or because the general energy supply for GB currently sucks?

The official line is that there is a lack of truck drivers, which is mostly true because Brexit has prevented a lot of the foreign drivers from working

Brexit may be a (small) part of it, but it certainly isn't the whole picture. Btw much of Europe faces a shortage of drivers as well.

There are a number of factors at play including delayed testing because of covid, relatively low wages, and perhaps drivers shifting to more local deliveries e.g. supermarkets post covid due to changing demand. I was speaking to a taxi driver who said the taxi industry was being decimated by this

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#68
post #19
post #7

This is all actually due to the initial phases of the inevitable collapse of the Galactic Empire, as foreseen by Hari Seldon.

How can we counteract this. Should perhaps one or two settlements be created at the opposite ends of the Earth be established? In order to make ready for the new empire?

Land’s End and Marshall Meadows Bay should suffice.

Although at this rate, Northumberland will be accidentally seceded to a newly independent Scotland, and the entity of Cornwall will become part of an independent Wales.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#69
post #5

> "The free movement of labour is part of the European Union, and we tried very hard to convince the British not to leave the Union," said Olaf Scholz, the Social Democrat candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor. "They decided differently. I hope they will manage the problems coming from that," Scholz said. Man, I can smell the schadenfreude from all the way over here.

You definitely get the impression that the other EU members intend to punish the UK for leaving.

You also get the impression the UK wanted to have its cake and eat it too. Some of the Brexit political promises are pure delusion. I think a few over zealous Brexiteers might be conflating not getting rewarded with punishment.

Re: Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

#70

People can only fill their tank, so it's self-limiting.

What do you mean by that? They can fill jerry cans or siphon out fuel at home

More generally, people have limited capacity by how many fuel containers they own. I don't think there is a massive supply of unused jerry cans anywhere, and and in any case it would take several cans to equal a single car tank.
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