NO TEST? NO ENTRY
Chaos reigns as Macron demands checks for every trucker passing through France
UK ports face more chaos after Emmanuel Macron demanded Covid tests for every lorry driver passing through France, sparking fears last night of empty shelves in supermarkets.
Dover was brought to a standstill as the unprecedented embargo was imposed on British hauliers following the emergence of a more infectious strain of the virus.
The disruption led to warnings of shortages of fresh food in the run-up to Christmas and claims the backlog of lorries is far worse than has been admitted.
French government officials initially said the 48-hour blockade – imposed with little warning at 11pm on Sunday – could be lifted within hours. But talks between Boris Johnson and the French President were continuing last night. Fears over imports intensified as Highways England warned the disruption could last for several days. Ian Wright, boss of the Food and Drink Federation, warned truckers ‘will not want to travel here if they have a real fear of getting marooned’, while the French haulage union has threatened strikes.
Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium said any prolonged disruption would be a problem in the run-up to the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. Royal Mail has suspended mail services to mainland Europe, while DHL said deliveries of packages and letters to Britain would be stopped until further notice. ‘Unfortunately, due to a lack of storage capacity, we have to return consignments with goods content and bulky goods to senders,’ it said.
Sources close to the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel said the number of lorries parked on the M20 waiting to cross the Channel is far higher than Grant Shapps claimed in yesterday’s Downing Street press conference.
The Transport Secretary said there were only 174 near the port but reports last night suggest there are 945. Highways England says fresh measures will be implemented today to keep traffic moving on the M20.
Labour transport spokesman Jim McMahon said that Mr Johnson ‘needs to come clean about the situation and get a grip’.
Around 15 lorry drivers reportedly received parking tickets in the Folkestone area for leaving designated areas and parking illegally. The council said it ‘has to look after our residents, and persistent illegal lorry parking causes damage to verges, littering, human excrement, dangerous obstructions and nuisance’.
The Government is said to be deeply unhappy with Mr Macron’s proposal, which would force all travellers, including hauliers, to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test before entering France.
PCR swab tests take between 24 and 48 hours to return a result, meaning the current backlog of HGVs would be unable to move until tomorrow at the earliest.
Ministers have mooted the possibility of carrying out lateral flow tests, which return results in 15 minutes. They are said to be exploring the possibility of setting up testing centres at Manston Airport, a former RAF base being used to hold stranded lorries.
A Whitehall source denied rumours of significant disagreements between the two leaders, but said: ‘They are deciding what level of protection is adequate: do we rely on driver behaviour, do we accept rapid lateral flow tests, or should it be PCR swabs.’
French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said PCR tests would be ‘at the centre’ of any new travel rules. But the proposal is deeply unpopular with British ministers, who fear it will create a logistical nightmare and seriously disrupt the flow of goods across the Channel. And there are serious concerns over whether Britain has the capacity to test thousands of t r uckers t o keep supply lines open.
Questions have also been raised over whether border closures are necessary, given the likelihood that the new strain is already circulating in Europe.