UK: A “period of adjustment” to post-Brexit life

Boris Johnson has conceded that the UK is facing a “period of adjustment” to life after Brexit and Covid, as a crisis of fuel shortages continues and shops face the prospect of empty shelves because of a shortage of HGV lorry drivers.

Johnson’s Conservative party began its annual conference in Manchester on Sunday against a backdrop of motorists queuing for hours to fuel their cars and a spike in food and energy prices.

The fuel crisis is believed to have been driven by a shortage of HGV drivers to transport petrol, jobs which had previously been disproportionately taken by EU nationals.

The Prime Minister is under pressure to promise that there will be no further tax increases, having last month set out plans to increase tax in order to step up spending on health and social care.

(Benjamin Fox | EURACTIV.com)