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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Nadeem Badshah, Jedidajah Otte and Hamish Mackay

France says it is ‘not responsible for Brexit’ amid row over Dover travel chaos – as it happened

United Kingdom Dover France Brexit Calais PierreHenri Dumont

A summary of today's developments

  • The French transport minister, Clément Beaune, has hit back at the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who had demanded France fix the “avoidable and unacceptable” situation at Dover. In a tweet, Beaune said: “The French authorities are mobilised to control our borders and facilitate the traffic as much as possible. I discussed this constructively with my counterpart [Grant Shapps]. But France is not responsible for Brexit.”
  • The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who is running to become the next Tory leader and prime minister, reiterated her claims that France is to blame for logjams at Dover, claiming French authorities “had not put enough people on the border”. In an interview with Sky News, she appeared to reject the suggestion that Brexit was to blame, and said “a lack of resource” on the French side was causing the long queues.
  • Pierre-Henri Dumont, a right-wing Republican MP whose constituency includes Calais, said there was “no need to blame French authorities for the traffic jams in Dover”. The delays were “an aftermath of Brexit”, Dumont tweeted. “We have to run more and longer checks.” The MP also accused London of having “rejected [a] few months ago a proposal to double the number of passport booths” for French police in Dover.
  • Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, has said that extra checks needed since Brexit were causing longer transaction times at border control, after French politician Pierre-Henri Dumont blamed Brexit for the disruption seen on Friday.
  • P&O Ferries said earlier this afternoon it is taking up to four hours to clear the relevant security checks at Dover, adding that if passengers miss their ferry, they will be booked on the next available crossing.
  • Lucy Morton, professional officer for the ISU – the union for borders, immigration and customs staff, was asked on the BBC’s Today programme whether Brexit is to blame for more rigorous checks by French border officials. She said: “It’s certainly the case that the checks are more rigorous than they used to be. Prior to Brexit, there was a deemed right of entry. We weren’t in Schengen but there were still very minimal checks ... and frequently there were no French checks at all.”

Here is more from foreign secretary Liz Truss on the talks she held about the delays.

However, France government official Catherine Colonna’s take on the talks with Truss strikes a very different tone.

Updated

Dave Harvey and his family faced lengthy delays on the roads on their way to the Eurostar terminal at Folkestone.

He said they had queued for three hours to get through and did not understand why the M20 had been closed.

“[It’s a] bit of a joke really,” Harvey told the BBC.

Asked how he felt at the start of his family summer holiday, he replied: “Frustrated. Especially with the young one.

“Sad and frustrated.”

Conservative MP for Dover & Deal , Natalie Elphicke, on her solutions for the Dover travel chaos.

Angie Emrys-Jones and four family members, including three children, endured nearly 11 hours in a queue and were only able to board the Eurotunnel at 4.15pm having joined the queue at 5.30am.

The 46-year-old from Cornwall said the family were “fed right up” and still had a 16-hour journey ahead of them to Umbria, central Italy.

P&O Ferries has said it is taking up to four hours to clear the relevant security checks at Dover, adding that if passengers miss their ferry, they will be booked on the next available crossing.

Updated

Lorries queuing during Operation Brock on the M20 near Ashford in Kent on Saturday
Lorries queuing during Operation Brock on the M20 near Ashford in Kent on Saturday. The RAC said an estimated 18.8m leisure trips are planned in the UK between Friday and Monday. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Updated

While those queueing to cross the Channel are still facing three- to four-hour waits, jams on many routes in the south-east have cleared, according to the AA.

The AA Route Planner is still issuing a traffic warning to holidaymakers heading towards the Port of Dover and the Eurotunnel terminal at Folkestone, but only a few isolated pockets of heavy traffic remained elsewhere by about 5pm on Saturday.

Roads are expected to be much quieter on Sunday, but a backlog of freight remains to be cleared.

Jack Cousens, the head of roads policy for the AA, said: “The picture throughout the day has been one of steady improvement.

“Travellers heading to holiday homes away from the south-east earlier today would’ve felt some congestion around lunchtime and into the early afternoon, but those queues have now fallen away.”

Updated

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who is running to become the next Tory leader and prime minister, has just reiterated her claims that France is to blame for logjams at Dover, claiming French authorities “had not put enough people on the border”.

In an interview with Sky News, Truss seemed to reject the suggestion that Brexit was to blame, and said “a lack of resource” on the French side was causing the long queues.

That’s all from me for today, thanks for following along.

Updated

Natalie Chapman, from haulier group Logistics UK, said some lorry drivers had waited “in excess of 18 hours” to cross the Channel.

She told the PA news agency:

There are two main issues. First and foremost, the welfare of those drivers, and the second part is that this is one of the most important trade routes for us in and out of the UK and we want to keep trade flowing, so this is obviously causing us significant issues as an industry.

Chapman blamed a number of factors for Saturday’s travel chaos on Kent’s roads, including a lack of resourcing at French border control, increased traffic due to problems with airlines, and Brexit changes which mean longer processing times for people crossing the Channel.

She added:

As I say, the cause was that lack of resource yesterday but also, of course, it takes a lot longer to process through traffic than it used to.

You used to, prior to Brexit, just wave your passport and they may or may not be looked at, but now every one is checked and stamped.

Updated

'France not responsible for Brexit', UK told over border queues

The French transport minister, Clément Beaune, has hit back at the UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, who had demanded France fix the “avoidable and unacceptable” situation at Dover.

In a tweet, Beaune said on Saturday afternoon:

The French authorities are mobilised to control our borders and facilitate the traffic as much as possible. I discussed this constructively with my counterpart [Grant Shapps]. But France is not responsible for Brexit.

Updated

French regional prefect Georges-François Leclerc said that at midday, out of the 9,000 to 10,000 vehicles scheduled to pass from Dover to France on Saturday, 60% had passed without any issue.

Vehicles had to wait about an hour and a half during the morning and later for only about 45 minutes, Leclerc said on BFM TV.

Asked if French customs officers were to blame for the delay, he said this was false, Reuters reports.

“Today the situation is back to normal,” Leclerc said, apparently referring to staffing levels on the French side. “The Port of Dover, which is a private port, found it easier to blame the French police [for the delays].”

Updated

The chief executive of the Port of Dover, Doug Bannister, has said in an update that he welcomed the “commitment shown by both French and UK authorities to resolve the issue”, as port authorities said they were “relieved that French border staff (Police Aux Frontieres) have now been fully mobilised at French border controls in Dover”.

Bannister stressed, however, that the required staffing levels must be maintained for the rest of the summer “so that we can begin to return to the positive experience we had planned for those going on their well-earned breaks”.

Updated

Here’s a video from Sky News, showing queues on the way to the Eurotunnel which the broadcaster reports are now seven hours long.

Updated

Lorries queuing during Operation Brock on the M20 near Ashford in Kent on Saturday, 23 July, 2022.
Lorries queuing during Operation Brock on the M20 near Ashford in Kent on Saturday 23 July. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA
Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in Kent as many families embark on getaways following the start of summer holidays for many schools in England and Wales.
Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in Kent as many families embark on getaways following the start of summer holidays for many schools in England and Wales. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Updated

Travel expert Simon Calder has explained in a BBC interview why Brexit is behind the massive queues at the port of Dover.

He added in a tweet:

Sailing over from Dover? Today is the busiest day for crossings to France since 2019. Queues to reach the port and once inside 1-2 hours to get through French passport control.

One motorist tells me: “We have to put up with it. That’s what the British do.”

More than 100 fixed-penalty notices have been issued in the past 24 hours for non-compliance with rules for freight drivers, the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) said, according to PA reports.

EU-bound hauliers have been warned that not complying with signs to follow the Operation Brock traffic management system on the M20 and trying to jump the queue risks a £300 fine, as well as removal to the back of the queue.

Toby Howe, KRF tactical lead, said the forum was “working hard to keep traffic moving” but that “due to the disruption being experienced at the ferry ports and Eurotunnel, it is important that drivers should plan for lengthy delays” and ensure they have enough water, food and medicines.

Updated

BBC News reports that the backlog at Dover is “starting to clear” but that it will still take “some time” to get passengers to their destinations.

Dan Johnson writes:

We’re told the backlog is starting to clear but that it will take some time to get everyone where they need to be.

Traffic is moving through Dover itself, into the port and onto ferries. Local streets are moving more freely than yesterday.

But there are still thousands of cars and lorries held on roads into Dover.

Motorists are being warned to carry water and food – it’s a warm day on the roads of Kent. They’ve been told if they miss their ferry they’ll be put on the first one available.

Updated

The Port of Dover reports that by 12.45pm, 17,215 passengers had passed through the port.

“We are working hard with our partners to get all passengers on their way as quickly as possible,” it said, claiming that tourist flows are “normal”.

All passengers are advised to check their ferry operator’s website for updates before setting off.

Updated

Sky News has shared this clip showing contradictory interviews with Dover MP Natalie Elphicke and the MP for Calais, Pierre-Henri Dumont, with each blaming the other side for chaos at the Channel crossing.

Elphicke said: “There were queues in Dover before Brexit, and there have been queues after,” claiming capacities for border checks had been “nearly doubled” at Dover since Britain left the EU.

She repeated earlier remarks that the French “had let everyone down” on Friday.

Dumont rejected this accusation wholesale. “She’s wrong,” he said, “she’s wrong, that’s it”.

He blamed infrastructure issues on the British side and stressed that Dover port was “three to four times smaller than the port of Calais”.

He called reports that French border staff had not been at work on Friday “fake news”.

Updated

Rail passengers also face disruption on Saturday due to strike action by Greater Anglia.

The operator is running a reduced service on Saturday, and on two upcoming strike days, and has advised people against travelling, the BBC reports.

Aslef union members are striking on Saturday and on 30 July, while RMT members will join a national strike on 27 July.

Greater Anglia said no replacement bus services would operate and referred passengers to its website for train timetables on strike days.

No services from Cambridge and Bishops Stortford to London Liverpool Street were due to run on Saturday 23 July, Greater Anglia said, adding that there would be no regional or branch lines operating.

Jamie Burles, managing director of Greater Anglia, said the operator was sorry for any “inconvenience and disruption” caused to its customers.

These strikes coincide with the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, the start of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the start of the Football League season, with many of our local teams due to play.

Negotiations are continuing and we hope an agreement with the unions can be reached soon.

A planned strike of more than 40,000 workers at Network Rail and members of the RMT at 14 train operating companies will go ahead on Wednesday, after the latest round of talks on pay, jobs and conditions broke down.

Updated

Holidaymakers and residents have been warned there is a “way to go” to clear the backlog at Dover with a “very busy” day expected, but port authorities expressed relief at improved numbers of French border staff.

More than 13,000 passengers were reported to be “on their way” before 10am by the Port of Dover Travel’s Twitter account, and Saturday is expected to be busier than Friday.

Scenes of gridlocked roads were repeated as travellers, some of whom got out of their vehicles to stretch while traffic was at a standstill, endured more lengthy waits, PA reports.

The Port of Dover’s chief executive, Doug Bannister, indicated that motorists could face five to six-hour delays.

Transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said he had been “working closely with my opposite number, Clément Beaune, to address the issues that caused tailbacks”.

On Friday evening, the French embassy in the UK said French border checks in Dover were “operating in full capacity”, adding that the French authorities were cooperating closely with their British counterparts.

Updated

A Twitter user has captured lengthy queues of HGVs that have formed on the M20 towards Folkestone.

Anna Barnes, who took the video on her way to London, said she couldn’t see any private passenger vehicles on the M20, just lorries.

Updated

AA Route Planner has issued a new traffic warning to drivers and said the south-east had been “Dover-whelmed”, with problems specifically affecting the Port of Dover and the Le Shuttle terminal at Folkestone.

Both P&O and Le Shuttle are warning customers of delays of around four hours to clear the roads and security. Portsmouth has some mild congestion whereas the Port of Newhaven remains quiet.

The AA said summer holiday traffic was now leading to delays on the M25, M3, M4, M5, M6, A303 and A31 in the south of England, adding there was also evidence of drivers looking to bypass the worst of the jams by turning onto local roads to avoid the rush.

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said:

The summer getaway is now in full swing and the major holiday routes are starting to fill.

The south east has been overwhelmed with travellers hoping to hop onto the continent with ease, but that has rapidly turned into a nightmare. One that is now being shared by the locals as drivers try to find alternative roads so they can keep the wheels turning.

Cousens urged drivers to do vehicle safety checks before setting off, carry plenty of water and snacks and stay up to date with the latest traffic alerts.

Updated

Traffic queues on the M20 near Folkestone in Kent as delays at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel continue to affect journeys as many families embark on getaways following the start of summer holidays for schools in England and Wales on 23 July, 2022. The RAC said an estimated 18.8 million leisure trips are planned in the UK between Friday and Monday.
Traffic queues on the M20 near Folkestone in Kent as delays at the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel continue to affect journeys. Many families are embarking on getaways following the start of the school summer holidays in England and Wales. The RAC said an estimated 18.8 million leisure trips are planned in the UK between Friday and Monday. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Updated

French MP says Brexit to blame for Dover delays

Reaction on the French side of the Channel was muted. Pierre-Henri Dumont, a right-wing Republican MP whose constituency includes Calais, said there was “no need to blame French authorities for the traffic jams in Dover”.

The delays were “an aftermath of Brexit”, Dumont tweeted. “We have to run more and longer checks.”

The MP also accused London of having “rejected [a] few months ago a proposal to double the number of passport booths” for French police in Dover.

Post-Brexit travel rules mean British nationals may stay in the Schengen zone for no more than 90 out of any 180-day period. Until a fully automated border system is operational, passport stamps are now required at most entry and exit points, significantly increasing processing times.

The British Foreign Office is advising travellers to mainland Europe to get their passports stamped, noting that if “relevant entry or exit stamps are not in your passport, a border officer may presume you have overstayed your visa-free limit”.

In December 2020, the UK Cabinet Office reportedly rejected a £33m proposal to double the capacity for French government passport checks at Dover after the port requested funding to help it to pay for additional Brexit-related border expenses.

The money would have been used to double the number of French border police passport booths in anticipation of more stringent requirements – including stamps in passports from 1 January 2021 – the Financial Times reported.

ITV News reported on Wednesday that the Port of Dover was only then “expanding border capacity to avoid queues” following a deal with the French border force to operate 50% more passport control booths.

The port said the extra booths would be “installed before the summer getaway weekend” of 22-24 July, but conceded their operation would depend on French “resourcing levels, and we know resourcing around Europe … is tight”.

A regional government official for Nord-Pas-de-Calais said in a statement on Friday evening that French officials had “of course anticipated the increased traffic levels” and put in place “an appropriate level of staffing”.

He said a “technical incident” at the Channel tunnel had meant French border police had not been at full operating capacity in Dover until 8.45am on Friday, an hour later than planned, by which time long delays had built up.

UK authorities have rejected this explanation.

Updated

As the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, and others blamed travel logjams on the French side, a report by the Financial Times from December 2020 is making the rounds, which revealed that the UK government rejected a £33m proposal to double the capacity of French passport checks at Dover.

The UK Cabinet Office turned down a request by the Port of Dover to pay for five further French government passport booths.

According to a National Audit Office report released the previous month, the government’s reasonable worst-case scenario was that passenger queues could last one to two hours after Brexit, but warned that over the summer months “the queues and delays could become much longer”.

The Cabinet Office has been approached for comment.

Updated

A campaign to stop rail ticket office closures is being stepped up with a day of action next month.

Unions fear ticket offices are set to close with the loss of thousands of jobs, making it difficult for some passengers to book tickets, Reuters reports.

A day of action is being planned for 23 August.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union said the industry is carrying out a consultation in August and is scheduled to start closing offices from October.

General secretary, Mick Lynch, said:

Ticket offices are a vital service on our railways and profit hungry train operating companies simply do not care about the detrimental impact it will have on vulnerable passengers and staff safety.

We have no problem with genuine modernisation and adapting the way the modern railways work.

But we will not allow thousands of members to meekly join Britain’s dole queues or to accept a version of fire and rehire on inferior terms and conditions.

We will fight this every step of the way with our national rail strike, and the public can help greatly by putting pressure on their local MP, telling the politicians they must oppose the closures.

Cat Hobbs, director of campaign group We Own It, said:

You can’t have great British railways if people can’t even ask for the information and support that they need.

Instead of abandoning passengers with a second class service, this government should be making it easy for people to take the train.

Updated

Authorities in Kent have declared a “major incident” due to traffic jams in and around Dover, with officials saying the disruption could be worse than on Friday.

There are currently 3,000 lorries parked on the M20 and traffic is building at the port.

The Kent Resilience Forum, which declared the major incident, urged people travelling to Europe via Kent over the May half-term and Platinum Jubilee holidays to help keep the county open for business and check with travel operators to make sure there was enough capacity before setting off, the BBC reported at the time.

Updated

Brexit means security checks taking longer, says port chief

Doug Bannister, chief executive of the Port of Dover, has said that extra checks needed since Brexit were causing longer transaction times at border control, after French politician Pierre-Henri Dumont blamed Brexit for the disruption seen on Friday.

Bannister told the Today programme:

We are operating in a post-Brexit environment which does mean that passports need to be checked, they need to be stamped and indeed the capable people that do man the booths – police aux frontieres – they’re doing their job that they need to do now.

He added that the port had “created more border capacity so that the overall throughput can be maintained”, and that their modelling had shown there will be some “very peak busy days during the summer season” but “for the most part we should be able to cope with the traffic”.

Earlier, the ISU – the union for borders, immigration and customs staff – also said Brexit was to blame for additional checks.

Updated

Natalie Elphicke, the Conservative MP for Dover and Deal, has written a blistering comment for the Express in which she says the French owe the UK “a massive apology” for the disruption on the roads of her constituency, claiming French border control officers “failed to turn up for work”.


In a separate tweet, Elphicke called for investment in roads, lorry parking and port facilities to prevent similar traffic jams in future.

Updated

Labour’s Nick Thomas-Symonds has accused the government of being “absent” as another day of gridlocked roads around Dover begins.

The shadow secretary of state for international trade told Times Radio:

What we really do need to see is a government that is taking a grip of this situation.

The government has not been planning in advance. We were urging the government, for example, some months ago to negotiate a veterinary agreement to reduce the number of checks.

The government has not done that, has not put the planning in place and yet again, we have a crisis where the government is absent.

He also hit out at Tory leadership candidates, telling the programme:

They’re now contained, once again, in their own infighting whilst we have something like this critical incident we’ve been discussing in Dover, where their focus is elsewhere.

Updated

This is what the queues currently look like at Dover, and they are expected to get significantly longer as the day progresses.

Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in Kent
Cars queue at the check-in at the Port of Dover in Kent

Updated

Allow at least three to four hours to get through security checks - P&O

The ferry company P&O has tweeted this advice to people using its services today:

Updated

Today set to be even busier than yesterday, says Dover port chief

Yesterday, travellers queued for six hours to get through French border controls in Dover – and today could be even busier.

That’s according to Doug Bannister, chief executive of the port of Dover.

He said some 10,000 cars are expected to be processed going out of the port on Saturday, up on Friday’s figure.

Asked if there could be five to six-hour delays for people at the port again on Saturday, he told the BBC’s Today programme:

It could be. We were expecting that today was going to be a busier day than yesterday.

Yesterday, we processed about 8,500 cars going out. Today we were predicted to be around 10,000 [cars] so it is going to be a very busy day down here.

Updated

Brexit has resulted in tougher checks, says border staff union

We’ve got more from the ISU’s Lucy Morton, who was asked on the BBC’s Today programme whether Brexit is to blame for more rigorous checks by French border officials.

It’s certainly the case that the checks are more rigorous than they used to be. Prior to Brexit, there was a deemed right of entry. We weren’t in Schengen but there were still very minimal checks ... and frequently there were no French checks at all.

We’re now, of course, outside the EU and they’re entitled to treat us as they treat any other European traveller.

So they do the same level of checks we do, and have always done, on them.

We send approximately 800 staff, on any given day, manning four ports across the northern French [coast]. Plus, we have staff in Paris, in Lille, in Brussels. So we’ve got quite a lot of UK immigration staff in France ensuring that they’re able to perform checks.

Understandably, these queues aren’t in France. They’re not upsetting especially [for people there]. I can understand why they might have a little less regard for the fact this is suddenly gridlocking.

Updated

Lucy Morton, professional officer for the ISU – the union for borders, immigration and customs staff – has been speaking to the BBC’s Today programme about the problems at the border.

Because Dover is located where it is, there is so little overflow space. It takes relatively little for backlogs to pile up and clearly this has become really significant.

This is all the French immigration control rather than the UK immigration control.

The port of Dover and Calais is juxtaposed so the UK control is in Calais, and you go through that as you leave France, and the French control is in the UK and Dover, and you go through the French control as you leave England.

So this is a lack of French staff. There are 12 lanes, I’m told, and at one point only four of those were manned.

Updated

France and UK trade blame over Dover gridlock

Good morning. For a second day running, people hoping to travel through Kent to France are facing huge queues and hours of delays as a row over who is responsible for the gridlock at the port of Dover grows.

On Friday – one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer – people queued in cars for more than six hours to pass through border control.

Foreign secretary and Tory leadership hopeful Liz Truss said the delays and queues were “unacceptable”, blaming a lack of staffing by France at the border.

This awful situation should have been entirely avoidable and is unacceptable.

We need action from France to build up capacity at the border, to limit any further disruption for British tourists and to ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future.

We will be working with the French authorities to find a solution.

The port’s chief executive said travellers were being “let down” by poor resourcing at the French border, which he described as “immensely frustrating”.

But a French politician blamed Brexit for the chaos.

Pierre-Henri Dumont, Republican MP for Calais, said the problems at the Kent port would reoccur.

This is an aftermath of Brexit. We have to run more checks than before.

Dumont also said the Port of Dover was “too small” and that there were too few kiosks due to lack of space.

We’ll bring you the latest updates and developments on this story throughout the day.

Updated

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