Another day and another crisis to add to the queue of issues facing the government.
Having already been hit by collapsing energy companies and concern about food supplies, the country has now been struck by another outbreak of panic buying, this time draining petrol pumps.
Around 90 per cent of forecourts have run dry, and motorists have spent large parts of the weekend sat in queues hoping they could fill up their tanks.
Some have reportedly gone further and chased tankers to petrol stations.
So, how has the government handled this latest crisis, and what crisis communication lessons can we learn from it?
Communicate
When you woke up yesterday morning wondering whether you had enough petrol in your car or if you would be able to get to the office, you may have expected the airwaves to be full of politicians discussing the situation.
Perhaps they would be discussing plans to ease the situation and offering some reassurance.
There was, after all, plenty to talk about. Competition law had been suspended so the industry could work together to minimise disruption. There was mounting speculation the army would be brought in to drive tankers to forecourts. Immigration laws were easing to attract EU drivers. And the country’s second-biggest oil refinery was reportedly on the brink of collapse.
Yet despite all this, no one was put forward to speak to the media. You read that correctly - no ministers were available to appear on TV or radio, despite the country grinding towards a halt.
The decision was lambasted by Susannah Reid and Alastair Campbell – who, like him or not, knows a thing or two about government communication – on Good Morning Britain.
Ms Reid: “You would think that at a moment of crisis, communication was absolutely key. But we can confirm we do not have a minister of Her Majesty’s Government on the programme this morning, despite the fact there is now a shortage of petrol on the forecourts.
“We don’t want to cause panic, but people are concerned right now because there is a massive shortage of HGV drivers.”
Mr Campbell added: “Having worked in government communications for quite a long time, I think that government communication is important at any time. But when things are a bit heated, and people are starting to worry about all sorts of things, then I think it is never more important.
“So, I think it is extraordinary that they don’t put ministers up to be challenged and debate, particularly as Parliament is not sitting.
“You have to explain what the government is doing. For people to wake up and hear the army is being sent in to drive trucks, the government has to explain whether that is right or wrong. Otherwise, you fuel the whole problem.”
'You would think at a moment of crisis that communications was absolutely key.'
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 27, 2021
'We can confirm we do not have a Minister of the Government on the programme this morning.'@susannareid100 and @campbellclaret question why no Government Ministers will appear on GMB this morning. pic.twitter.com/FWBU5KgnKo
The duo said there was a convention that ministers did not do TV interviews during party political conferences, but Mr Campbell insisted it had been broken in the past.
On Radio 4’s Today programme, listeners were told: “We did ask for an update from the government, but ministers are not doing interviews this morning.” A short yet damning phrase during a crisis.
#r4today says no government ministers available for interview this morning. Presumably they are sitting in their ministerial cars queuing for petrol?
— Piers C. Structures (@pcstru) September 27, 2021
At this time of crises no government ministers available to comment on the present situation.
— Steve Sturgess (@sturgess_steve) September 27, 2021
Not good enough by a long chalk. #r4today
“government have said there are no ministers available for interview today” consider that while queuing for petrol when going gets tough government go into hiding if they can’t face the consequences of their policies why should they expect the nation to put up with them #r4today
— Laura (@laurawenn1) September 27, 2021
On our crisis communication training, we stress how pivotal it is organisations constantly communicate when they are in the spotlight. You can’t over-communicate in these situations.
The public has a thirst for the latest information. It wants to know what the government is doing to resolve the situation and whether it is likely to work. And that means opening yourself to scrutiny from journalists.
With radio silence forming the strategy, it fell to the Petrol Retailers Association to fill the void, provide the public with an update and discuss the measures leaders are taking to tackle the crisis.
And speculate on whether those steps will work. The association’s chairman has already said he thinks the situation “will get worse before it gets better”.
Not the reassuring prediction many would have wanted.
Similarly, the European Road Haulers Association have happily put spokespeople forward to cast doubt on plans to entice EU drivers back to these shores.
Once you stop talking during a crisis, the narrative can quickly veer off-course.
Messaging
You have to wonder when the government will move away from the ‘don’t panic’ and ‘carry on as normal’ messages.
Recent history, with the runs on toilet rolls and empty supermarket shelves caused by the stockpiling of food, shows that telling the public not to panic only makes them panic more.
Yet, those in charge stick with it.
When the fuel issues first began to emerge, small business minister Paul Scully told Times Radio: “There is no need for people to go out and panic buy.” (He also went on to repeat the negative language used by the journalist about a return to 1970s, when high inflation and industrial action led to a winter of discontent – but that’s a lesson for a different media training blog).
And I’ve seen several Conservative MPs repeat the ‘don’t panic’ message on social media.
There are reports of panic buying at Petrol stations across the patch, please don't. Supply lines are good and deliveries are happening. If you panic buy you are causing a problem, and panic buying is not the solution.
— Paul Holmes MP (@pauljholmes) September 24, 2021
Went to a petrol station in Bishop earlier - zero queue and no shortage of either petrol or diesel.
— Dehenna Davison MP (@DehennaDavison) September 24, 2021
We know sometimes these things can get overblown, but there really is no need for any panic buying of fuel ⛽️
As pundit Andrew Pierce said on Good Morning Britain: “The moment you hear ministers say ‘don’t panic buy’, it is almost a green light to panic buy.”
What should the government have said instead? That is trickier.
Perhaps, if firmer action had been taken, the messaging could have focused on temporary restrictions on the amount of petrol bought in one go. Or, maybe, a minimum spend to deter those looking to top up already well-stocked tanks.
Another option would have been to use a more trusted source. Perhaps hospital bosses could have spoken about the need for doctors and nurses to have fuel so they could continue to care for the sick.
There are definitely alternative options to consider.
But here's the thing. If the last time you told people not to panic resulted in fights over bog rolls and supermarkets stripped of everything edible, you can't be surprised that using it again results in more chaotic scenes.
Good crisis media management involves looking at what has, and has not, worked well in recent incidents and not allowing the same mistakes to be repeated.
Blame
On our crisis communication training courses, we tell delegates to avoid blaming other organisations for a situation.
It is never a good look and can easily add the sideshow of a row into the mix of an already damaging situation.
In the middle of a crisis, people would rather know what action will help resolve the problem. Speculating about where fault lies can wait until the situation has eased.
When the government has not been suggesting the public are at fault for panic buying, it has been keen to point the finger elsewhere.
A haulage organisation has found itself in the firing line for creating what it describes as a “manufactured situation”.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News that a haulage body had triggered the crisis through “irresponsible briefing” because it was "desperate to have more European drivers undercutting British salaries".
He said: “There was a meeting 10 days ago, a private meeting, in which one of the haulage associations decided to leak the details to the media and that has created quite a large degree of concern. People naturally react to these things.”
Mr Shapps did not name the organisation, but the Daily Mail quoted a government source saying the Road Haulage Association was "entirely responsible for this panic and chaos".
Rod McKenzie, managing director of policy and public affairs at the association, was named as the leak in the media. A claim he has subsequently denied.
He said: “I was not in the meeting. I was not briefed about the meeting afterwards. I certainly didn’t brief any journalists about the meeting about which I knew nothing. It is entirely without foundation.”
A useful distraction, perhaps. But surely, a better approach – and a more reassuring one for the public – would be to see a united front from all those involved in managing the issue.
The government will hope the supply issues ease in the coming days – we are constantly told there is plenty of petrol at refineries and terminals, just not at forecourts.
But as the country seemingly lurches from one crisis to another, it quickly needs to find a way of communicating about them without pouring more fuel on the fire.
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