Johnson plans mass testing of lorry drivers to reopen ports
PM orders officials to start preparations after personal appeal to Macron over Covid border crisis
BORIS JOHNSON is drawing up contingency plans to test all lorry drivers taking goods across the Channel to bring an end to the disruption at Britain’s ports.
Ministers are understood to be preparing “infrastructure” to allow thousands of truckers to be tested for Covid-19 after France insisted hauliers should be cleared as negative for Covid before entering the country.
Last night, the Prime Minister made a personal appeal to Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, to reopen the French border after ports were closed in response to the news that a newly discovered mutant strain was “out of control” in London and the South East.
Mr Johnson told a Downing Street press conference that he believed the risk of freight drivers passing on the new, highly infectious strain of coronavirus was very low. He said: “I want to stress that we in the UK fully understand the anxieties of our friends about Covid, their anxieties about the new variant. But it’s also true that we believe the risks of transmission by a solitary driver sitting alone in the cab are really very low. And so we hope to make progress as fast as we possibly can.”
However, The Daily Telegraph understands the Government is working on increasing testing capacity in Kent if the French president refuses to back down.
A UK government source said: “Testing is time-consuming and sets a precedent for post-transition. We are trying to avoid it, but we are doing the work to get testing capacity and the infrastructure down to Kent in case we need it.”
The closure of ports on Sunday forced around 6,000 lorries to be diverted from Dover, with a queue of up to 500 trucks waiting on the motorway. The Department for Transport closed the M20 last night in order to activate Operation Brock, its Brexit contraflow traffic plan to avoid chaos on the roads, and opened the disused Manston Airport near Ramsgate as an overspill parking site for lorries. Highways England later reported that 900 lorries were parked on the M20.
‘Our drivers will not be home with their families in time for Dec 24. They have been abandoned in a foreign country’
Meanwhile, panic buying saw supermarket shelves sell out and shoppers queuing from dawn as Sainsbury’s warned of a salad crisis, with shortages of lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit, if the ban is not lifted in the next few days.
Nearly 50 countries across five continents have cut all passenger air travel and transport ties with the UK in the past 48 hours because of the rapid spread of the new, more contagious strain of the virus.
Ministers moved to quell fears that the disruption posed a risk to the supply of Covid vaccines.
It is thought the French want hauliers to have the gold standard PCR Covid tests, which cost up to £150, but take between 24 hours and 48 hours for results, delaying attempts to get lorries moving, to clear the backlog and allow drivers into France before Christmas. Mr Macron told a Cabinet meeting by video on Monday: “We are looking at systematic testing upon arrival.” It is thought about 6,000 tests a day would be needed and would be most likely administered at the Manston Airport overspill parking site.
Labour yesterday urged the Government to use spare capacity in the coronavirus testing system for the drivers.
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said ministers needed to stop “dithering” and take decisive action to deal with the “chaos” at the UK border.
The situation is complicated by the French hauliers’ union, which wants the tests conducted in France.
Vanessa Ibarlucea, of the country’s National Federation of Road Transport, said: “It takes 48 hours to get an appointment and another 48 hours to get the results of a PCR test.
“So our drivers will not be home with their families in time for Dec 24. Our drivers have been abandoned in a foreign country.”
Toyota in Burnaston, Derbyshire, shut down a day early for Christmas because of the border closures. The
firm operates on a four-hour “just in time” parts delivery system.
Mr Johnson and Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, claimed the crisis showed t he UK was ready f or a a no-trade-deal Brexit on Dec 31 after the contingency travel plans reduced yesterday morning’s stacked-up queue of 500 lorries in Kent to 174.
“Some of the reason why we’ve not seen big problems in Kent today is because actually the transition period work that’s been going on for very many months and years is coming to fruition a few weeks earlier … than previously stated,” said Mr Shapps.
“But it does mean that the measures like having Manston available, like having the movable barrier available [in Operation Brock] including welfare for the hauliers – it’s all in place. So to a large extent it has shown that we are ready [for a no deal Brexit].”
But Thierry Breton, France’s EU commissioner, said his country could have helped Britain tackle the new infectious strain of Covid if not for Brexit.
If Britain “had chosen to remain in the European Union … today we could have helped them”, said Mr Breton.
EU leaders held crisis talks yesterday to agree a coordinated response after more than 10 European countries imposed flights bans affecting some 250,000 Britons.
France was the only country to impose restrictions on freight as well as passenger flights.
Last night, the Irish government announced that consular flights were being arranged for Irish residents stranded in Britain after the ban on flights from the UK to the Ireland.
Simon Coveney, the foreign affairs minister, and Eamon Ryan, the transport minister, said there would be at least two consular flights this evening.
At least one will depart from London while the departure location of the other flight has yet to be determined.
The department of foreign affairs said it would depend on demand from those who contacted its assistance line.
A statement read: “There will be no access to people living in Great Britain who were planning short trips to Ireland for Christmas. This is because of the ongoing travel ban due to public health concerns.”
Ferry access is also being arranged for Irish residents who have been stranded in their vehicles after taking short trips to Britain.
Richard Burnett, the chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, said the disruption could cause problems with “fresh food supply” in the run-up to Christmas.
Mr Shapps dismissed concerns about the impact of the travel ban on supplies of the Pfizer-biontech vaccine, which is manufactured in Belgium, because container freight was unaffected.