admin
Vital trade and travel links between the UK and continental Europe slowly reopened after France eased border restrictions, but huge backlogs that could take days to clear led to tensions at Britain’s busiest port.
Near Dover, police clashed with some truckers angry that they’ve been waiting since Saturday and are trying to get home for Christmas. Many are lined up for coronavirus tests that they need for passage into France.
France cut off shipments from the port in southeast England on Sunday because of concern over a faster-spreading variant of Covid-19 that prompted the UK government to lock down London and surrounding areas.
That heightened a sense of economic isolation in the UK as the high-stakes political drama of Brexit edged closer to its end-of-year deadline.
As port officials and ferry companies worked to get things moving on Wednesday, frustrated truckers demanded updates. Next to the protests, Polish driver Arturro Bojdal said he’d been stuck two miles from Dover since midnight on Sunday. He picked up his load in Southampton to deliver it in the Czech Republic.
“First they said testing would start yesterday, then today. The police told us tests got stuck on the motorway,” he said. “There’s been free food — a cheeseburger with salad yesterday — but the toilets are full. They have no water. I’ve been sleeping in my cab with another driver. I just want to get home for Christmas.”
Almost 3 000 trucks have been stuck in southeast England, lined up on the side of the highway and the tarmac of a local airport — a logjam that threatened the supply of some fresh food items in British supermarkets.
While UK food and retail groups welcomed the decision to reopen Channel crossings, there was also a warning that some foods could remain in short supply. Drivers need to get tested and it will take time to clear the thousands of trucks backed up on roads leading to Dover.
The Food and Drink Federation said it could be the New Year before normal operations resume. – Bloomberg.
Bongani Ndlovu