‘No-deal will make M20 a lorry park’
Steven Swinford
James Rothwell
THE M20 will become a giant lorry park in the event of a no-deal Brexit because of the disruption the EU will inflict on cross-channel trade, say official no-deal plans to be unveiled next week.
The Daily Telegraph understands that while Britain will “minimise” customs checks at its ports, “disruption and delays” at European ones are likely.
According to an industry source, the document states that Operation Brock, which will see a 13-mile stretch of one side of the M20 closed for lorries to be parked, will form a “key part” of con- tingency plans. While trucks queue on one side of the motorway waiting to cross the Channel at Dover and Folke- stone, two-way through-traffic will be squeezed on to the remaining side.
The “technical notice” for the haulage industry suggests that British lorries may be prevented from entering EU countries at all, forcing haulage companies here to use container ships.
It also states that British drivers may have to apply for international driving permits after Brexit, as the EU may no longer recognise UK licences.
The paper is one of 83 to be released over the next month, with the first tranche being published on Thursday, all covering the no-deal scenario. Eurosceptics have already attacked them as a “kamikaze” approach to Brexit that will only hand the EU a negotiating advantage.
But Dominic Raab, the Brexit Secretary, says they are a “serious and sober” response to the risks posed by no-deal. The paper says it is likely the EU will introduce “checks for customs, sanitary and possibly transport documentation” at ports on the continent which will lead to tailbacks in the UK for goods ready for export. It also warns that British lorries may lose the right to “community licences”, which are required for journeys to the EU.
Hauliers will have to rely on permits, subject to a strict quota and insufficient to cover EU trading, so should look at options including “different modes of transport”, such as container ships.
David Jones, a Eurosceptic Tory MP, warned the no-deal documents must not become an “exercise in gloom and doom”. Other no-deal papers to be published will be on farming, financial services and aviation.