Updated: December 21, 2020 7:59:54 pm
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks during a press conference in response to the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), inside 10 Downing Street, London, on Saturday, December 19, 2020 (Toby Melville / Pool Photo via AP)
The UK was isolated from the rest of Europe on Monday after allies cut transport ties over fear of a new strain of coronavirus, wreaking havoc for families, truckers and supermarkets just days before the cliff edge of Brexit.
Johnson will chair an emergency response meeting Monday to discuss international travel, particularly the flow of cargo in and out of Britain. EU officials must hold a meeting at 1000 GMT to coordinate their response.
France closed its border to the arrivals of people and trucks from the United Kingdom, closing one of the most important commercial arteries with continental Europe, a step that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said was surprising. “We are doing everything we can to get it rebooted,” Shapps told Sky. “They have told us that they want to restart the carriers as quickly as possible.”
As families and truck drivers tried to circumvent travel bans to return home in time for Christmas, Britain’s second-largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, said gaps will start to appear on shelves in a few days if they transport links are not quickly reestablished with continental Europe.
“If nothing changes, we will start to see gaps in the coming days in lettuce, some salad greens, cauliflower, broccoli and citrus, all of which are imported from the mainland at this time of year,” Sainsbury’s said.
Scottish seafood producers said they had tons of perishable goods stranded on the roads due to the closure of the French border. The disruption in Britain will also ruin supplies to Ireland.
Hong Kong will also ban all flights arriving from the UK after midnight, making it the first city in Asia to do so. Asian nations, including Japan and South Korea, said they were closely following the new strain.
The pound fell more than 2 cents to $ 1.3279 and the FTSE 100 fell 2% at the open, and travel companies such as IAG, which owns British Airways, fell 15%. The yield of the British 2-year gilts reached a record low.
TRANSPORTATION CHAOS
Britain’s Shapps said getting the bans lifted as quickly as possible was his priority, but given Britain’s preparations for the end of the Brexit transition period, the country was well positioned for disruption.
Johnson canceled Christmas plans for millions of Britons on Saturday because of what he said was a more infectious strain of the coronavirus, although he said there was no evidence that it was more lethal or caused more serious illness. The new variant contains 23 different changes, many of them associated with the way it attaches to and enters cells.
Shapps said Britain had done some of the best global testing of virus mutations, so he was simply looking at what was already in other countries.
The British government put in place plans it had to stack trucks in the south-east county of Kent as part of its plans for a possible disruption when the UK exits the EU orbit with or without a trade deal. at 2300 GMT on December 31. on a Brexit trade deal was to continue on Monday.
‘SICK MAN OF EUROPE’
Trucks pile up on the M20 motorway through Kent, heading towards the ports, which is closed to normal traffic. A nearby airport will also be used to hold cargo.
“Sick Man of Europe,” read the Daily Mirror newspaper on its front page alongside a picture of Johnson, while the Sun newspaper read “French show no merci.”
The closing of the Channel Tunnel and ports to continue travel to France will affect the export of goods such as fish and shellfish from Scotland to Europe, and the import of food for British supermarkets if, as expected, drivers Europeans refuse to travel.
Trucks have been told to avoid Kent to prevent more trucks from piling up.
Jon Swallow, director of British logistics group Jordon Freight, said France’s move would deter European drivers from coming to Britain both now and after the end of the year for fear of getting stuck. “This is a serious situation as the products in stock expected here are for Christmas and to help stabilize January,” he told Reuters. “This shows how fragile the route between canals is.”
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