Channel crossing.22 Dec 2020 13:58
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/britain-and-france-clash-over-coronavirus-tests-for-lorry-drivers-8hxdcskg6?utm_medium=Social
Part1
Britain is resisting demands by France for all lorry drivers crossing the Channel to have coronavirus tests with a 48-hour turnaround amid concerns it will lead to delays and limit availability for care homes.
President Macron is calling for truck drivers to be given PCR tests, which take between 24 and 48 hours to return a result. Britain fears this will lead to a significant backlog at ports and could see lorry drivers prioritised over care staff.
The government is understood to be pushing for lateral flow tests, which use saliva and can produce a result within 20 minutes. However, there are significant concerns about the accuracy of the tests. Ministers are also grappling with what to do if a driver tests positive. “How do we ensure lorry drivers isolate?” a government source said. “And what do we do with their freight?”
Ministers privately concede, however, that they may have to give way to French demands for PCR tests to get goods flowing again. Supermarkets have warned of shortages in fruit and vegetables unless the situation is resolved.
Regardless of the outcome of talks, disruption at British ports is expected at least until Christmas Eve because of the scale of the backlog on both sides of the Channel. Up to 1,500 lorries are now waiting on the motorway, in side streets and in lay-bys in Dover.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, said that the government was “working to get a resolution” to end the ban. Ministers hope that the issue will be resolved by tomorrow morning.
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, warned that there will be shortages of fruit and salad if the issue is not resolved.
He said: “The problem actually is empty lorries. So the empty lorries that are now stuck in Kent, they need to get back to places like Spain to pick up the next consignment of raspberries and strawberries and they need to get back within the next day or so otherwise we will see disruption.
“As long as it can be cleared today there will be minimal impact for consumers — remember the shops are shut on Christmas Day, which takes one day of buying out of the equation, but those lorries that are stuck in Kent, they do need to get back within the next day.”
Ms Patel told Sky News that talks would continue with France because “it’s in both our interests to carry on those discussions and negotiations and we will see what materialises today”.
The home secretary said that 650 lorries were queued on the M20, with 873 at a former airfield site in Manston, Kent.
She defended the response of ministers, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today: “The government has consistently throughout this year been ahead of the curve in terms of proactive measures with regards to coronavirus.”
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