Christopher Booker writes a regular column in The Telegraph, often on Brexit. He is not a remainer but has always wanted us to leave the EU, join EFTA and the EEA and continue trading on those terms for a few years. He is also a friend of Dr Richard North of the EU Referendum blog and I believe they have collaborated on books dealing with the EU and Brexit. He is not a fool. This week he is pointing out the divide between what we're told and the truth, especially on Brexit and now the aviation sector after Airbus' warning (HERE).
For his troubles he gets a mass of pro brexit trolls who mercilessly attack him. I particularly liked this contribution from one commenter:
"I was prepared to take notice of what Booker says until the bit about turning Kent into a lorry park. Has he ever done any actual importing or exporting himself ? Customs procedures are done almost entirely on line and we are bringing in thousands of consignments from all over the world every day without difficulty.
"The BBC recently interviewed two lorry drivers at Dover to ask if they saw any problems after leaving the EU. Both said 'no problem at all'. One said 'we might get some common sense into the haulage industry again'. The BBC then turned to some 'expert' in the studio who proceeded to claim it was all a disaster, as usual.
"But then lorry drivers are just ignorant plebs who probably voted for Brexit. They are just part of the millions who actually keep the country running instead of yapping about it endlessly, doing a far better job in their own profession than any politician, so what do they know ?"
It's amazing that the warnings of Airbus, BMW and now five employer organisations including the CBI, the BCC, the EEF and the IoD have written to the government (HERE) expressing concern about the slow progress and the lack of clarity in the negotiation are simply dismissed but the opinion of two truckers in Dover are treated like biblical truths chiselled in tablets of stone! As for an expert, all he gets is two inverted commas and shovel full of oprobrium.
So, no need to worry, two anonymous lorry drivers say there's no problem with Dover after Brexit at all! Phew, that was close. If I hadn't got that sort of assurance I might have been a bit anxious. It's put my mind at rest I can tell you. What does that Head of Policy at Dover know? (HERE).
I'll see if those two drivers can be found so they can write to Airbus, BMW and the employer bodies and let them know all their worries are totally unfounded.
