New Prime Minister Mr Johnson sent Priti Patel and Michael Gove to the port – Europe’s busiest – in an attempt to quell the concerns of hauliers worried about the management of Dover should Britain come out of the EU without a deal. Officers will funnel queues of hauliers in and out of the Port to avoid grilling queuing should a no deal Brexit come into play. In a statement, a Cabinet Office spokesman said: “During the visit, the Ministers met with representatives from the haulage, freight and port industries to discuss plans for October 31 and looked at the work being done to ensure the UK is ready to leave the EU.
“This includes vital work to make sure traffic continues to flow smoothly at both the port and the surrounding roads after Brexit.
“They also met Border Force officers to talk about the steps they have already taken to maintain both security and the flow of goods and people at ports across the UK, including training more than 5,500 officers for Brexit.”
The officers are in the process of being trained in the final 60 days before the Halloween Brexit deadline.
Home Secretary Ms Patel said: “The work being done by Border Force is vital to ensure that the UK border remains one of the safest and most efficient in the world.”
Mr Johnson has hired 5,500 new Border Force officers (Image: GETTY)
Mr Johnson hired 5,500 new officers (Image: GETTY)
Mr Gove, the Duchy of Lancaster, added: “Making sure we are ready to leave the EU on October 31 is my top priority. That is why we have stepped up our preparations across Government.
“The work being carried out at our ports is a great example of the vital preparations that are being carried out across the UK as we prepare to take back control and seize the opportunities of Brexit.”
The Brexiteers attended the Port this afternoon and met with hauliers who have deep concerns about drivers being stuck in queues of up to 48 hours with no bathroom facilities or food outlets to use in emergencies.
RHA policy director Duncan Buchanan said he had heard people say drivers will need to bring “picnic hampers” due to delays before reiterating there were just 60 days left to rot the queuing issue out.
READ MORE: No Deal Brexit: THIS is how badly the EU will be affected by No Deal
Ms Patel was sent to Dover today to meet with hauliers (Image: ITV)
Operation Brock has already been deployed to keep the M20 open in both directions in Kent.
In the event of disruption in Dover, lorries travelling to mainland Europe will be held on the coastbound carriageway, while a contraflow system will operate across other lanes.
The previous method for dealing with lorries queuing, known as Operation Stack, meant sections of the motorway were closed and caused chaos for local journeys.
Heidi Skinner, policy and public affairs manager at the Freight Transport Association (FTA), said: “Freight and logistics has never been a sexy subject, but it goes back to everything, how our country runs.
DON’T MISS:
Interrail UK: Why has Britain been kicked out of Interrail?
Brexit gamble: Boris Johnson could call shock snap general election
Kate Hoey calls for Electoral Commission to disband – ‘Start all over’
Mr Gove was also on the trip having been sent by Mr Johnson (Image: ITV)
The appearance comes as Brexit preparations were ramped up a notch (Image: ITV)
“Logistics has always been so seamless. People don’t appreciate how much it touches people’s lives – it goes into every single constituency, every single town, whether that’s medicine in your hospitals to the food in the supermarket to the food going into the children’s schools.
“And I think that people haven’t appreciated the complex nature of these supply chains and so it’s now coming to the forefront that actually transport is one of the key issues that needs to be addressed.”
Highlighting further how the issue goes beyond conditions faced by lorry drivers, she said: “Everything that touches your life, whether that be the letters that come through your letterbox every day, the coffee that you pick up from the high street, or the groceries in your supermarket, everything is delivered by logistics firms across the UK.”
Ms Skinner said lack of communication from the Government has been a problem.
The so-caled Boris Bounce has seen support for the Tories surge (Image: EXPRESS.CO.UK)
She said: ”We don’t yet know what border readiness looks like.
“Government, at the moment, is saying that, if we do see delays at the border, ‘that is down to the industry, they haven’t prepared themselves’.
“Our argument is, actually if you gave us the information, even at this late stage, we can communicate that.”
She added: “It just seems that there is a lack of planning and preparedness.
The Port is Europe’s busiest (Image: PA)
“We’re happy to work with Government to get that in place but it’s just not there at the moment.”
The move to recruit the officers is the latest sign that Britain may well be leaving the EU without a deal and will opt for World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.
