A few days before Christmas, British supermarkets warned of shortages of goods, although talks between the two countries were not sealed off, but the days were over to resolve the chaos.
On Tuesday morning, police officers stood behind the entrance to the English port of Dover with a large sign saying “French borders are closed”.
As of Tuesday, there were signs of improvement, with police instructing some drivers to take a corona virus test at the nearby Monston airport in the hope that an agreement could be reached between French and British officials by the end of the day.
Since the border was closed, hundreds of lorries trying to get from the UK into Kallis have been stuck in a traffic wall. As of Tuesday morning, about 873 vehicles were at Monston Airport and about 650 vehicles were on the M20 motorway, according to the UK Department of Transportation.
Although drivers from Europe are not barred from entering the UK, there are growing fears that Halleys will resist doing so for fear of not being able to return home, leading to food shortages.
The period leading up to Christmas has traditionally been a busy time for trade as new products are imported from Europe for the festive season. In addition, the UK holds reserves before the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December.
On Monday, Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s leading supermarket chains, said there would be a shortage of lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus fruits if nothing changes.
Meanwhile, the British government says it will provide food, beverages and toilets for British truck drivers. Gridlock is currently stuck in the area around the eurodonal.
Adrian, a Romanian driver stranded in Dover, told CNN: “A lot of people do holiday here in cars … they can’t go home. It’s not good. We’m lucky because we’ve here in Dover, but a lot of people are stuck on the roads,” They can’t go to the toilet or take a shower. “
“We don’t get respect … but if we stop, nothing is going to happen across Europe. This truck, that truck, they’re feeding … If they stop, no one will eat.”
Adrian added that he had been sleeping in his vehicle for the past three days without the help of the authorities or the bathroom or clean water. “This is not a good situation. Many of us have families at home and they have children at home.” He said he was preparing dinner from a small cooker in the back of his van.
Meanwhile, the challenges that appear in Dover could be a preview of what will happen when the Brexit transition period ends on January 1 and those barriers to trade are temporarily reversed.
“The supply chains have already been under pressure since the January 1 changes, so the inclusion of the border closure makes us very vulnerable,” David Henick, UK director for the European Center for European Political Affairs, told CNN. “This is coming at a bad time for global confidence in the UK, given that border barriers are going up.”
Luke McGee reports and writes from London; Reported from Salma Aptology Dover. Sharon Pride White contributed to this report.
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