Inside Politics: Fuel prices soar as Johnson puts army on standby

With no immediate end in sight to the ongoing fuel crisis, Boris Johnson has made a formal request to put troops on standby to deliver petrol and diesel across the UK as prices soar due to unprecedented demand. Back at Labour conference in Brighton, Keir Starmer has been hit by the resignation of a shadow cabinet minister amid a row over wage policy. Elsewhere, Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, pledged to spend an extra £28bn on making the UK economy more green. And later today Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, sets out the party’s stance on crime.

Our chief political commentator John Rentoul on what to look out for today:

Formal business at Labour conference today consists of speeches from Kate Green, Wes Streeting, Jonathan Ashworth, Nick Thomas-Symonds and David Lammy (education, child poverty, health, home affairs and justice, respectively), but most of the news is likely to be generated by media interviews and fringe meetings. Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary will breach protocol by making an announcement during Labour conference, on offshore wind projects in the north-east; while in Westminster, where parliament is still in recess, the European Scrutiny Committee will nevertheless publish a report on the effect on the UK of proposed EU laws.

Coming up:

– Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds on Sky News at 8.05am – Defence committee chairman Tobias Ellwood on Sky News at 8.30am

PUMP IT UP: The ongoing fuel crisis continues to dominate the news agenda this morning after the government announced plans to put soldiers on standby to distribute petrol and diesel across the country. At an emergency meeting in Whitehall, ministers agreed to put military tanker drivers in a state of readiness to take the wheel of civilian tankers if normal conditions do not return swiftly. Defence sources said that 75 drivers have been put on standby initially, with a further 75 along with 150 support staff available if needed, with several days of specialised training required before deployment. The announcement came just hours after George Eustice, the environment secretary, told broadcasters there were no plans to use the army and despite a joint letter from nine major fuel distribution companies including Shell, Esso and Wincanton, saying they expect demand to return to normal in the coming days – a line used by the government in recent days and one that sounds more like a hope than a plan. Fuel prices are now at an eight-year high.

DEFLATED: Monday was another difficult day for Labour and its leader Keir Starmer at the party’s conference in Brighton. Things got off to a good start with a well received speech by Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, who in addition to announcing plans to scrap business rates, pledged to spend an extra £28bn a year on making the UK economy more “green” if Labour wins the next election. Reeves’s address was quickly overshadowed by the resignation of left-winger and Corbynite Andy McDonald. The shadow secretary of state for employment rights said his position on Starmer’s front bench was “untenable” and that he could no longer work for the party leader amid a row over the minimum wage. McDonald had previously backed Labour’s position of £10 per hour, leading to accusations by Starmer allies that the shadow minister’s resignation was sabotage designed to wreck the leader’s conference. The row rumbles on later today as conference votes on an increase to £15 per hour.

Things can only get better? In other conference updates, Labour is to invoke Tony Blair’s “tough on crime” message and promise a crackdown on antisocial behaviour if it is elected. In a speech to the party’s conference, Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, will accuse the Tories of being “soft on crime and soft on causes on crime”.The comments are a knowing reference to Blair’s claim New Labour would be “tough on crime, tough on the causes of crime”.The slogan was coined by Blair when he was shadow home secretary in 1993, and kept on when he took over the party leadership.

‘QUESTION OF WAGES’: Britain’s ongoing fuel crisis is being caused by a shortage of truck drivers to deliver petrol to the pumps – a direct consequence of Brexit and low wages, according to the man set to replace Angela Merkel as Germany’s chancellor. In a press conference on the morning of his election victory, Olaf Scholz was asked by a British reporter about the chaos disrupting British supply chains. “The free movement of labour is part of the European Union,” the SPD leader, the likely head of whatever government emerges from coalition talks, answered. “We worked very hard to convince the British not to leave the union. Now they decided different and I hope they will manage the problems coming from that.” Following up with some advice for the British government, Scholz, a moderate whose social democrats narrowly became the largest party in Sunday’s poll, said: “It might have something to do with the question of wages. If you understand that being a trucker is really something that many people like to be and you find not enough, this has something to do with working conditions and this is something that has to be thought about.”

FAR RIGHT ROW: The far-right group Britain First has been allowed to re-register as a political party by the Electoral Commission. The watchdog said an official application “met the legal criteria”, despite leader Paul Golding holding convictions for a terror offence and hate crimes. In a statement, Britain First vowed to field candidates in upcoming elections as a “fully-fledged political party”. “This is a stupendous victory for the Britain First movement,” said an email to supporters.“Although our street activities will continue, this day marks the birth of Britain First as a traditional political party that will take the fight to the establishment through the ballot box.”

“I can announce today Labour’s climate investment pledge. An additional £28bn of capital investment in our country’s green transition for each and every year of this decade. I will be a responsible chancellor. I will be Britain’s first green chancellor.”

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves talks a green game in her conference speech.

“McDonald is far from a household name, shadowing a government department that doesn’t exist. But his exit shows that Starmer’s efforts to make a break with the Corbyn era have some way to run. As the old dictum goes: divided parties lose elections.”

Financial Times Whitehall editor Sebastian Payne on resignation of Labour MP and shadow employment rights minister Andy McDonald.

Sign up here to receive this free daily briefing in your email inbox every morning