LONDON: More than 1,500 trucks were stranded in England on Tuesday morning amid fears that Britain could face food shortages if travel restrictions implemented to slow the spread of a new strain of the coronavirus are not eliminated soon.
Dozens of countries around the world have imposed heavy restrictions on travel in the UK in recent days: Canada To India, nations have banned flights from Britain, while France has banned trucks from the country for 48 hours from Sunday night while stress is assessed.
Secretary of the Interior Priti Patel told BBC radio that the British government is “ constantly talking ” to France to achieve a swift resolution to get the cargo moving again. Meanwhile, trucks were piling up in Kent, the county in southeastern England that is home to some of the most popular ports across the Channel.
Patel said 650 vehicles were lined up on the main highway towards the port of doverwhile 873 others had been redirected to the nearby disused Manston Airport.
“ It is in both our interests, both countries, to make sure we have flow and of course there are European carriers right now who want to go home, ” he said.
While the French ban does not prevent trucks from entering Britain, the move stoked concerns about shortages at a time of year when the UK produces very little of its food and relies heavily on produce delivered from Europe by truck.
Many trucks carrying cargo from Britain to the mainland return loaded with goods. The fear is that it will fall. In addition, some drivers or their employers may decide not to enter Britain for fear of not being able to return home.
With about 10,000 trucks passing through Dover every day, accounting for about 20% of the nation’s goods trade, retailers are increasingly concerned if there is no resolution soon.
Andrew Opie, Director of Food and Sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, warned of possible food shortages such as lettuce, fresh vegetables and fruits, after Christmas if the borders are not “ functioning quite freely ” from Wednesday.
“ The problem is actually the empty trucks, so the empty trucks that are now stuck in Kent, they need to go back to places like Spain to pick up the next shipment of raspberries and strawberries and they have to return the next day or so of what. Otherwise we will see disruption, ” he said.
Over the weekend, Johnson imposed strict lockdown measures on London and neighboring areas amid mounting concerns about the new variant of the virus.
The CEO of BioNTech, the German pharmaceutical company behind a vaccine that is now rolling out in the UK and elsewhere, said he was confident his injection would work against the new variant, but more studies are needed to be completely sure. .
Ugur Sahin said on Tuesday that “ we do not know at the moment if our vaccine is also capable of providing protection against this new variant ”, but because the proteins of the variant are 99% equal to the predominant strains that BioNTech has’ ‘. scientific confidence ” in the vaccine.
Johnson said early indications are that the variant is 70% more transmissible and is driving the rapid spread of infections in the capital and surrounding areas.
As a result, it eliminated a planned relaxation of the rules during the Christmas season for millions of people and imposed new and harsh restrictions on the affected area. Household mixing will not be allowed indoors, and only essential travel will be allowed.
The virus is blamed for 1.7 million deaths worldwide, including nearly 68,000 in Britain, the second-highest death toll in Europe, behind 69,000 in Italy.
The chaos at the border comes at a time of great uncertainty for Britain, less than two weeks before it completes its exit from the EU and breaks free of the bloc’s rules. Talks about a post-Brexit business relationship between the two sides are stalled.
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