"Puff the magic EE driver, lived by the sea,
And frolicked in that open sea,
In a land called Gallilee,
All the brit road hauliers,
Loved that driver Puff,
Cos he would drive 90 hours
And not be paid a chuff"
Believe it when it happens,never believe what the anti Government left wing Guardian / Huff Post and the Independent say as being gospel.
lolipop:
Believe it when it happens,never believe what the anti Government left wing Guardian / Huff Post and the Independent say as being gospel.
Tbf the Daily Mail are saying it too and it’s hard to tell where Boris Johnson’s ringpiece ends and the Daily Mail begins…
lolipop:
Believe it when it happens,never believe what the anti Government left wing Guardian / Huff Post and the Independent say as being gospel.
Rather believe them than “Honest Boris”
toonsy:
lolipop:
Believe it when it happens,never believe what the anti Government left wing Guardian / Huff Post and thess Independent say as being gospel.Tbf the Daily Mail are saying it too and it’s hard to tell where Boris Johnson’s ringpiece ends and the Daily Mail begins…
The only recycling the tories do well at!
JeffA:
So tell us how the scroungers pay for a license. You didnt think this through did you.
What’s needed is some real left field thinking here. How about they do what the majority of current licence holders did and get a job and save up enough money to pay for their licences? You didn’t really think that one through did you?
I didnt save anything on the dole.
Sock it to the disabled unemployed eh? Thats as far down into the rotten, infested excrement as we can get.
lolipop:
Believe it when it happens,never believe what the anti Government left wing Guardian / Huff Post and the Independent say as being gospel.
PM relaxes rules for foreign HGV drivers
digitaleditions.telegraph.co.uk/ … cle/211860
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PM relaxes rules for foreign HGV drivers
Johnson grants 5,000 temporary visas to ease threat of fuel and food shortages
Harry YorkeWHITEHALL EDITOR
BORIS JOHNSON is to relax immigration rules for European lorry drivers after queues began to form at petrol stations following warnings of fuel rationing.
‘Unless a solution can be found in the next 10 days, it is inevitable that we will see significant disruption’
Up to 5,000 temporary visas are expected to be granted for HGV drivers, The Daily Telegraph understands.
Ministers met yesterday to finalise the proposals, which are expected to mean the Ministry of Defence will bring in military driving examiners to increase the number of HGV tests that can be conducted in an attempt to boost the supply of British drivers.
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Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, who had been leading the resistance within the Government to calls for the recruitment of more European drivers, was at the meeting and is understood to have dropped her opposition. Sources stressed that there were strict time limits on the measures.
The Prime Minister still has to formally approve the plans, but is expected to do so this weekend.
There were chaotic scenes at forecourts yesterday as motorists defied orders not to panic buy after a decision by BP to begin rationing fuel to petrol stations.
Last night, EG Group, which is owned by the billionaire Issa brothers who also own Asda, said it was imposing a £30 limit at its 400 petrol stations.
There are predictions that petrol prices could jump by as much as 3p per litre in coming weeks, with oil prices yesterday closing on a three-year high.
Downing Street said last night: “We have ample fuel stocks in this country and the public should be reassured there are no shortages.
“But like countries around the world we are suffering from a temporary Covid-related shortage of drivers needed to move supplies around the country.
‘We will not give in to big businesses who want to change immigration rules to drive down wages’
“We’re looking at temporary measures to avoid any immediate problems, but any measures we introduce will be very strictly time limited. We are moving to a high-wage, high-skilled economy, and businesses will need to adapt with more investment in recruitment and training to provide long-term resilience.”
As well as warning about the impact of the HGV driver shortage on getting fuel to petrol stations, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) cautioned that if the crisis were not addressed in the next 10 days there would be “significant disruption” at Christmas.
Andrew Opie, the BRC’s director of food, said: “The UK faces a shortfall of around 90,000 HGV drivers, and it is consumers who ultimately suffer the consequences. Unless a solution can be found in the next 10 days, it is inevitable that we will see significant disruption in the run-up to Christmas.”
Under the Government’s plans, several thousand temporary visas will also be made available for poultry workers in the food-processing sector.
The lorry driver shortage is the latest consumer headache for the Government after a week of chaos in the energy sector. The collapse of two suppliers amid soaring gas and electricity prices forced the Government to intervene to subsidise CO2 production.
Alongside the visas for lorry drivers, which will be similar to those available for seasonal European farm workers, the Department for Education will also launch a series of skills “boot camps”, which Whitehall sources said would provide training for new drivers. The Department for Transport will also launch a major strategy to convince thousands of retired British HGV drivers to get back on the roads, as well as look at further ways to speed up the time it takes for new drivers to qualify.
The shortage of drivers has been exacerbated by a backlog of 40,000 lorry drivers waiting to take their tests because the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) had been prevented from conducting the exams during lockdown. There have also been delays in the processing of applications for full HGV licences by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), because the forms have to be handled in person and many officials are working from home.
Several major supermarkets have discussed writing to customers as soon as next week to warn that there could be less choice on shelves this Christmas, The Telegraph can reveal.
The discussions have been prompted by growing fears that food retailers will miss their targets for stocking so-called “ambient”, or shelf products, such as cranberry sauce, by the end of October. This is likely to have significant knock-on effects for November, when their focus shifts to stocking fresh products such as sprouts and turkeys.
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“Without action there will very likely be a shortage of some fresh foods,” a source said. “And at some point they have to tell their customers. They don’t want to do that, because what customers will think is … let’s get in the car and stack up.”
Restaurants and pubs are also facing significant disruption, with UK Hospitality revealing that its members are reporting an average of one in five products missing from deliveries.
“The acute shortage of drivers is affecting all parts of the supply chain – the fractures are being felt from farm to fork and our members are reporting, on average, 1 in 5 items simply not turning up on each and every delivery,” said Kate Nicholls, UK Hospitality’s chief executive.
“Coupled with labour shortages across the sector it is indicative of a food supply chain at breaking point.”
Industry leaders have warned since May of the looming driver crisis, but Ms Patel and Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, have led opposition to calls to expand the list of “shortage occupations” which makes it easier for Europeans to work in the UK under the post-Brexit immigration system.
They argued that British firms must instead improve pay and conditions to attract more British drivers. Only yesterday, Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, argued that granting fast-track visas to European HGV drivers risked undermining efforts to drive up wages, exacerbating the shortages.
However, in recent days, George Eustice, the Environment Secretary, and Stephen Barclay, the Cabinet Office minister, had pushed for an about-turn.
A senior government source said: “We believe in British workers being paid properly and we will not give in to big businesses who want to change immigration rules to drive down wages.”
We are paying higher taxes for worse services — see Editorial Commentarrow
JeffA:
All those big tough tories “WE DONT NEED EUROPE DO WE GIRLS?!!”…er…yes…yes we do…
Funny - migration was the only thing most people voted on - now thats torn up. So youve got brexit with all the good bits removed!! Well done!
So we all know the A stands for ■■■■■■■■, could you kindly crawl back up it please 
JeffA:
I didnt save anything on the dole.Sock it to the disabled unemployed eh? Thats as far down into the rotten, infested excrement as we can get.
You obviously (and conveniently) missed out the bit where I said “get a job” to pay for their licences.
It may not suit your agenda or POV but if you take your head out from where you talk you’ll notice that the whole country is hiring. If you aren’t working now it’s because you don’t want to work!
JeffA:
Sock it to the disabled unemployed eh? .
Would those be the same retards and spastics you contemptuously dismissed in an earlier comment?
JeffA:
I didnt save anything on the dole.
I bought my first van with giros.
JeffA:
I dont see it as massive - nowhere near. Its a pittance being spent on job seekers allowance.What do they get a week? 80 quid? 90? You wont pay too many hgv courses on that will you?
So tell us how the scroungers pay for a license. You didnt think this through did you.
Ever heard of a little wheeze called student loans?
Now the government are going to relax visas for EU drivers, which will force down wages again, is it worth training to become a HGV driver if you’re a Brit?
I’ve been pondering this for ages and for much longer than the ‘covid’ emergency. I’m a Paramedic and have been for many years. Due to the fact that I’m utterly ■■■■■■ sick of being ■■■■ on from every direction and having to negotiate the utter thundercunts in NHS management, I decided bin it and to go for one of my retirement plans and become a HGV driver.
I’ve provisionally booked a C+E+CPC course and I’m now waiting for my provisional to come back.
Now I hear that the EU drivers may be coming back, so I’m doubting my decision to invest in the training.
Surely the sensible answer to the current crisis is to enable those already driving to up-skill and from what I see in the press, significantly improve the infrastructure so that the working and life support conditions improve.
But, I’m not even a HGV driver yet, so in reality, know nothing. Just giving my opinion based on my own observations.
bigstraight6:
JeffA:
All those big tough tories “WE DONT NEED EUROPE DO WE GIRLS?!!”…er…yes…yes we do…
Funny - migration was the only thing most people voted on - now thats torn up. So youve got brexit with all the good bits removed!! Well done!
So we all know the A stands for [zb], could you kindly crawl back up it please
I see what you did there.
Staright:
Now the government are going to relax visas for EU drivers, which will force down wages again, is it worth training to become a HGV driver if you’re a Brit?I’ve been pondering this for ages and for much longer than the ‘covid’ emergency. I’m a Paramedic and have been for many years. Due to the fact that I’m utterly [zb] sick of being [zb] on from every direction and having to negotiate the utter thundercunts in NHS management, I decided bin it and to go for one of my retirement plans and become a HGV driver.
Y
I’ve provisionally booked a C+E+CPC course and I’m now waiting for my provisional to come back.Now I hear that the EU drivers may be coming back, so I’m doubting my decision to invest in the training.
Surely the sensible answer to the current crisis is to enable those already driving to up-skill and from what I see in the press, significantly improve the infrastructure so that the working and life support conditions improve.
But, I’m not even a HGV driver yet, so in reality, know nothing. Just giving my opinion based on my own observations.
Well 5000 wont save us even if they come.
Head of eu hauliers says drivers wont come - EU has better pay, hours and conditions.
Let me sit down and strap in.
JeffA:
Staright:
Now the government are going to relax visas for EU drivers, which will force down wages again, is it worth training to become a HGV driver if you’re a Brit?I’ve been pondering this for ages and for much longer than the ‘covid’ emergency. I’m a Paramedic and have been for many years. Due to the fact that I’m utterly [zb] sick of being [zb] on from every direction and having to negotiate the utter thundercunts in NHS management, I decided bin it and to go for one of my retirement plans and become a HGV driver.
Y
I’ve provisionally booked a C+E+CPC course and I’m now waiting for my provisional to come back.Now I hear that the EU drivers may be coming back, so I’m doubting my decision to invest in the training.
Surely the sensible answer to the current crisis is to enable those already driving to up-skill and from what I see in the press, significantly improve the infrastructure so that the working and life support conditions improve.
But, I’m not even a HGV driver yet, so in reality, know nothing. Just giving my opinion based on my own observations.
Well 5000 wont save us even if they come.
Thinking about it, surely the EU drivers will by now, be very aware to what the various jobs are paying. If I were them, I’d not work for anything less and would probably even negotiate a per deum to cover away from home life support stuff, so maybe they’re no longer the cheaper option. Time will tell.
How many of these EE drivers actually have an ADR anyway
So if we really are this desperate for drivers, surely every newly qualified HGV driver is currently gainfully employed?
Yeah right…
Companies are still banging on about “two years experience”, but rather than put pressure on employers and insurance companies to be a bit more flexible, Boris et al would rather make a mockery of what was arguably the main point of Brexit and bring overseas workers back here.
Meanwhile Jimmy Krankie north of the border is (understandably) buoyed up with an “I told you so!” attitude which will bolster support for another Scottish independence referendum.
The Government have really excelled theirselves this time (in incompetence and general stupidity)
They’re assuming foreign drivers would want to come back, many won’t.