Boris Johnson tonight insisted the government is working on 'getting through to Christmas and beyond' as he claimed the fuel crisis is 'stabilising' and dismissed calls for key workers to get priority at petrol stations.
The PM tried to calm the chaos by urging the public to 'fill up in the normal way when you really need it' as he stressed that there is no need for panic buying.
Risking infuriating motorists who have been facing extraordinary carnage across the country, he laid the blame on a 'slightly misleading' account of the shortages of lorry drivers causing an 'understandable surge in public demand'.
'I would really urge everybody to go about their business in the normal way and fill up in the normal way when you really need it,' he said.
'What we want to do is to make sure we have all the preparations needed to get through to Christmas and beyond, not just in supply for petrol stations but all parts of the supply chain.'
The intervention, in a statement from Downing Street, came as the Labour leader weighed into the situation, calling for the length of emergency visas for foreign HGV drivers to be doubled to six months.
In a round of interviews from his party conference in Brighton, Sir Keir said the issues over drivers had been 'entirely predictable' and the government's response far too slow.
But he refused to say that Brexit was 'to blame', instead arguing that it was an inevitable consequence of the decision that was taken.
The comments came as more fighting broke out on Britain's 'Wild West' petrol forecourts today, with drivers throwing punches and even pulling knives as violent rows broke out in the long queues.
However, minister insist there are 'tentative' signs the crisis will ease this week.
Mr Johnson was making his own position clear for the first time, as MPs slammed his decision not to bring in soldiers to deliver fuel immediately to 'regain public confidence' and petrol stations started rationing fuel sales at £30.
The PM tried to calm the chaos by urging the public to 'fill up in the normal way when you really need it' as he stressed that there is no need for panic buying
In a round of interviews from Labour conference in Brighton today, Keir Starmer said the issues over drivers had been 'entirely predictable' and the government's response far too slow
Two men brawling at a London petrol station after one accused the other of jumping the queue for fuel
Speaking to BBC News in Brighton, the Labour leader said: 'The Government has reduced the country to chaos as we track from crisis to crisis and the Government is not gripping this.
'I spoke to the haulage sector this morning to the businesses that are absolutely in the middle of this, and they are beyond frustrated and these were their words, they said it's a Government that is denying there's a problem, then blaming somebody else, and then coming up with a half-baked plan. What I would do is give priority to key workers this week.
'And I would issue enough visas for lorry drivers for long enough. At the moment there was some talk this morning on the discussion that the pieces may not even begin until November. And we have to take action today.
'The Prime Minister should take that action today, prioritise key workers and start issuing enough visas and for long enough. The strong view this morning was that three months visas won't work, they've got to be six months visas.
'But this problem was predictable and predicted and the Government has absolutely failed to plan.'
Sir Keir resisted blaming Brexit for the shortage of HGV drivers but accepted it was partly a consequence of leaving the European Union.
Speaking to Channel 5 News, the Labour leader said: 'I wouldn't say that Brexit is to blame. What I would say is that it was inevitable as we exited the EU that we needed a plan to deal with drivers. That is obvious whether you voted Remain or voted Leave, and we took that decision years ago.
'And here we are with a shortage of drivers which was completely predictable and predicted - and the Government hasn't got a plan.'
But later speaking to Sky News, Sir Keir said: 'What is the sole cause of this problem? The Government has known for some time that there are consequences of us leaving the EU, one of which is lorry drivers.'
Earlier, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps claimed the pressure on filling stations is beginning to ease and insisted the Army would remain on standby despite admitting the queues will not disappear yet.
'There are now the first very tentative signs of stabilisation in forecourt storage which won't be reflected in the queues as yet,' he said in a pooled TV clip.
'But it is the first time that we have seen more petrol actually in the petrol stations. The sooner we can all return to our normal buying habits, the sooner the situation will return to normal.'
Drivers pack into Wisley South Services in Surrey this morning beside a near deserted A3
Rationing of fuel and filling stations just for emergency workers are the likely next steps in the crisis, Government documents reveal.
Under an emergency government plan (pictured), key workers could be given 'priority access' to a number of petrol stations.
The plan involves capping the amount of fuel drivers can buy and letting critical workers have 'priority access' to pumps.
Another option, the designated filling station scheme, could see 'emergency and critical service vehicles' having priority access. This was done by Tony Blair's government during the 2000 fuel crisis.
The document, published last year, reveals the Government's next steps are:
Designated Filling Station scheme: Emergency and critical service vehicles would be given priority access to road fuel from filling stations
Bulk Distribution Scheme: Oil companies and fuel distributors can be directed to prioritise the delivery of bulk petroleum products to critical services such as emergency services, utilities and public transport.
Commercial Distribution Scheme: Oil companies and fuel distributors can be directed to prioritise the supply of road diesel to the commercial vehicles sector to support the operation of key supply chains, such as food and health.
Maximum Purchase Scheme (rationing): This restricts the sale of road fuels at retail filling stations to the public to a maximum amount per visit to ensure that all motorists have access to some fuel.
The scheme can also limit the hours in which road fuels can be sold.
Crude Oil and Imported Product Allocation Scheme: Government can formally allocate crude oil and other imported oil products within the UK.
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As one driver was seen filling mineral water bottles with petrol, he said: 'No more water bottles at petrol stations: it's dangerous and not helpful'.
New video has emerged of two men punching and kicking each other across a London Shell station in a row about whose turn it was to fill up. Two women yelling 'what the f*** are you doing' broke up the punch-up as one of the fighters pointed at his foe and yelled: 'He stole my place'.
Amid widespread scenes of enormous queueing across Britain's forecourts, footage emerged of a man holding what appears to be a knife shouting at a driver outside a petrol station in Welling, south east London. The video then shows the car ramming into the alleged knifeman, who is then carried for several yards on the bonnet.
And it is proving so difficult to get fuel, thieves have been siphoning it from cars, sometimes drilling into the petrol tank, Shadrack Olaloko, from Birmingham, said: 'What these guys did was they came and drained out all my fuel in the tank'.
The brawls broke out as motorists reported queues at 11pm, 3am and 5.30am across the UK as the Government was accused of being 'asleep at the wheel' and critics questioned claims within Whitehall that the crisis will be over within two to three days.
Mike Granatt, former head of Britain's civil contingencies secretariat, the section of the Cabinet Office responsible for emergency planning in the UK, said today that the Prime Minister should give a TV press conference on the fuel crisis, as Tony Blair did in 2000. He said: 'It's called leadership. And we need some. Someone needs to stand up and say this to people rather
