Macron ‘folds’ after logjam at border... but panic buyers strip shelves
FRANCE’S ban on UK freight was lifted last night after Emmanuel Macron ‘folded’ under pressure to allow rapid Covid tests.
A deal was struck which means around 2,800 lorry drivers in Kent will finally start moving again from today. They will first have to test negative for the virus to enter France.
But there were fears that disruption to food supplies and a shortage of fresh produce remains a real risk beyond Christmas.
Chaos at Dover in recent days brought warnings that supermarkets could see shortages of fresh vegetables, salad crops and fruit within days. News that trucks will be allowed to cross the Channel provided drivers get a clear Covid test has brought some relief. However, some hauliers fear it could make matters worse.
Last night it emerged Boris Johnson has sent in the military to help test drivers in an attempt to clear the backlog near the Dover-Calais crossing. France introduced the ban on UK road, rail and air arrivals with little notice on Sunday night following the emergence of the more infectious mutant strain of coronavirus.
French president Mr Macron demanded every haulier be tested. The deal will see lorry drivers being tested on the roadside and at a nearby airfield with rapid ‘lateral flow’ tests which can give results in 20 minutes.
Mr Macron had wanted lab-processed PCR tests to be used which can take up to 72 hours to give results. But he caved in after a third night of talks following pressure from fellow European leaders who urged him to compromise.
A Whitehall source said: ‘Many of these are European lorries – there are a lot from Poland, for example – and [EU] member states have been telling France they want to get their drivers home. Macron folded under pressure from his own side.’
Another UK source said: ‘The
French created this problem and we got them out of it. They found themselves pretty isolated in the EU and they were getting pressure from their own citizens and hauliers who were stuck in the UK.
‘We have helped them get out of it because we can rise to the task of rapidly rolling out the testing.’
The deal also means that flights, boat crossings and the Eurostar may be able to resume.
Announcing the deal on social media last night, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps urged hauliers not to travel to Kent despite the breakthrough and wait for the backlog to be cleared. He tweeted: ‘Good progress today and agreement with the French government on borders... but hauliers must still NOT travel to Kent this evening.’
The scale of the crisis was illustrated by aerial photographs yesterday showing 2,180 lorries parked at the nearby disused Manston Airfield, which was set aside by the Government as part of its No Deal Brexit contingency plans.
There were also 632 snaked along the M20 as part of the Operation Stack arrangements.
Earlier, business chiefs and haulage bosses said they believed ‘there are about 4,000 food and drink l orries on their way to Dover’ and that the total backlog of vehicles waiting to make the crossing to the continent will be ‘probably nearer six or 7,000 by the end of today’.
The disruption had led to renewed warnings from supermarkets and hauliers that Britain was days away from a lack of fresh food. Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consor
‘The French were isolated in the EU ’
tium, told MPs that unless trucks got moving there was a question over supplies.
Fears of shortages have seen supermarket shelves stripped bare. Yesterday queues snaked down high streets from as early as 5am. Supermarkets insisted there was plenty of food already in the country for the holiday season, but still shoppers dashed to stock up on everything from fresh produce to toilet roll.
Images showed shoppers coming out of a Costco in Glasgow with trollies laden with goods such as toilet roll, large packs of butter, eggs, kitchen roll and handwash.
Mr Opie said these scenes were to be expected and are largely the result of a need for social distanci ng, which l i mits numbers in stores. There has also been extra demand from people who will be cooking at home, rather than visiting relatives or eating out.
‘It is kind of inevitable you are going to see queues outside supermarkets and that will remain for the next couple of days, he said.
Policy Director at the Road Haulage Association, Duncan Buchanan, criticised the French government’s decision to impose border controls. He described the measures as a ‘blockade’ and a ‘kneejerk’ reaction. But he also warned that the idea of getting freight moving by introducing testing could make matters worse.
‘Personally, I think it is a waste of time. You are better off having the trucks moving and no one mixing,’ he said.
‘What we are doing by stopping the drivers and sending them all to a field in Kent is that they are going to start mixing.’
It is still unclear how long it will take to clear the backlog and there could still be shortages if the testing scheme fails to clear it in the next few days.
Testing will begin this morning and will be run by NHS Test and Trace with the Army in support.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s chief Brexit co-ordinator, linked the crisis to the UK’s decision to leave the EU. In a response to i mages of trucks parked near Dover, he said: ‘They will now start to understand what leaving the EU really means.’
‘I think it is a waste of time’