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The island is a little further from the mainland. The spread of a new strain of the coronavirus, supposedly more contagious, and the imminence of a Brexit for which there is still no agreement leave the United Kingdom more isolated than ever, amid a disturbing health situation.
The variant of the virus worries the scientific community, although for now it is only known that it spreads much faster. It does not appear, according to the first indications, that it has more damaging effects on health or that it will offer more resistance to vaccines.
More than 40 countries have banned travel from the UK, including Chile. Undoubtedly, a setback for the natives of those countries, who see their hopes of reuniting with the family at Christmas frustrated. But the “bolt” that hurts the British the most is that of France, the transit point for most of the goods that arrive from the continent.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron in order to settle a crisis that, in the inflamed nationalist vein of British media, follows an arbitrary decision to punish the country and force it to give in to negotiations post-Brexit.
Calm in Dover
With a giant sign saying “France has closed its borders”, the port of Dover, through which the vast majority of trucks that carry goods between the island and the mainland pass, received today the carriers who wanted to return to the European Union.
While absolute calm reigned in the port terminal, hundreds of trucks were escorted by the police to park in one of the lanes of the highway, enabled as temporary parking.
After speaking with Macron, Johnson announced that he hopes to find some way to unblock the passage in the next few hours. Only 20% of the goods cross the border accompanied by a carrier, he said at a press conference.
If the predictions of the British “premier” are correct, British households can rest easy. They should only do without products such as cauliflower, broccoli or lettuce at their Christmas banquets, which are not usually favorite ingredients at this time anyway.
The problem, warn the transport associations, will come if the closure is prolonged beyond 48 hours. In that case, perishable products may begin to become scarce in British shops, and the shortage that was feared from January 1 due to the end of the transition period with the EU would be anticipated by more than a week.
Johnson said he understood the anguish that the emergence of a new strain causes in the rest of the world, but stressed that “the risks that a truck driver traveling alone will transmit the virus are very low.”
Despite everything, the UK continues its vaccination program with the Pfizer / BioNTech preparation and has already inoculated over 500,000 people, the vast majority of them over 80 years of age.
Brexit just around the corner
Although the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps, boasted that if there has not been a collapse of trucks in the county of Kent – where Dover is located – it is because of the preparations that have been carried out for months for Brexit, the truth is that there are only ten days left and the uncertainty is maximum.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Scotland’s Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged the British Government to ask for an extension of the talks to focus on the alarm unleashed by the new variant of the virus.
The answer they found was the same: it will not be negotiated beyond December 31.
This is because unless Johnson can reach a trade deal with the EU in the next 10 days, the UK will cease to be an informal member of the bloc on December 31 at 11pm London.
“The position has not changed: there are problems,” Johnson told reporters when asked if there would be a trade deal. “It is vital that everyone understands that the UK has to be able to have full control of its own laws and also that we have to be able to control our own fisheries.”
The prime minister insisted on his thesis that the trade relationship with the EU will be “more than satisfactory” if it becomes governed by the general rules and tariffs provided for by the World Trade Organization on January 1, if there is no agreement before.
For Johnson, his country “will prosper powerfully” even if it does not reach a trade agreement with the EU, where it exports 43% of its goods and where 52% of its imports come from.
However, according to analysts, if an agreement on trade in goods is not reached, there will be shocks in the financial markets, European economies will be hurt, there will be disruptions at borders and supply chains will be disrupted.
A Brexit trade deal would ensure that trade in goods that makes up half of the annual trade between the European Union and the United Kingdom, with a total value of almost a trillion dollars, would remain free of tariffs and quotas.
Britain says talks are bogged down on two issues – so-called “level ground” and fishing – and has repeatedly said the EU has to give in or there will be no deal.
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