Saturday 9 April 2022

Dover chaos - don't mention Brexit

The chronic traffic problems in Dover have been covered by the main media outlets including the two big broadcasters BBC and ITV but neither report Brexit as being the main or even a significant part of the problem. They don't mention it at all.  The blame for 20 mile HGV queues along the M20 into Dover are attributed to the lack of P&O ferries and an increase in holidaymakers as the weather picks up just before Easter. However, exporters say it is definitely due to Brexit.

However, dig below the surface and it's blindingly obvious that Brexit has played a major role. 

The suggestion that the problems are down to a reduction in capacity between Dover and Calais is wrong. Consider this. P&O announced sailings would be suspended on 17 March, three weeks ago. Yet the problems are only becoming apparent this week. Odd that? You would have thought the overnight cut in the number of sailings would have caused immediate and widespread congestion but it didn't.

Next, there are no corresponding issues in Calais. How come traffic Dover - Calais is affected but not the other direction as this tweet showing hold-ups on both sides of the Channel confirms.

I follow a man, Ciaran the courier with the Twitter handle @vanmaneuro, who crosses regularly and he also says there are no problems with traffic backing up in Calais. Remember, Britain imports more than it exports (in goods) so you might expect a lack of ferries to have at least the same impact in France, if not more. But it doesn’t for some reason.

Finally, Ciaran tweets what he says are pictures from inside a half-empty ferry sailing from Dover to Calais. There are 15 miles of queuing HGVs heading to Dover (3 lanes so 45 miles in total) yet ferries are setting off to Calais half empty. It doesn’t make any sense does it?

Only when you note a tweet from Joe Mayes at Bloomberg do you discover what is happening:

The Goods Vehicle Movement Service (GVMS), the government IT system that is supposed to handle truck movements went down a week ago and isn’t expected to be operational again until Monday. GVMS links the CHIEF and CDS systems and provides a Goods Movement Reference Number (GMRs) that allows vehicles to pass quickly through Dover, with only a check on the truck number plate using ANPR.

The official government website claims its all back up and working but the 'continuity plan' which involves physically checking paperwork, will remain in place until Monday. This is also confirmed on a separate transport information website HERE.

The issue will I assume be resolved at some point but it demonstrates how fragile the crucial cross-Channel route has become after Brexit. Some leave supporters are trying to claim the whole thing has nothing to do with Brexit. Witness this tweet:

This whole thing for me is about how Brexit seems to escape blame, not even recognised as an accomplice by the BBC and ITV, when it clearly played a big part. It shows we need a change of government in order for the truth about Brexit to come out.

While Johnson and the Tory government are in power the message will be the same. Whatever the difficulty, Brexit isn’t the problem. If that doesn't hold then it’s not the main problem. If it is the main problem it’s really not that big and just keep looking ahead because everything will get better - one day.

Governments control the message, set the tone, make the news. Broadcasters always report the official line first. 

Starmer is playing the long game (I hope). He can’t bang on about Brexit until he’s in Downing Street  but if Labour can win in 2024, he can begin to shape the message. Brexit can be blamed openly. Businesses which are suffering can be more explicit and their voices will become louder.  Only then will public opinion start to really shift.

If Labour can show clearly we are better off being in the single market then re-joining the EU is the only possible solution.

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