Foreign Secretary and Prime Ministerial candidate Liz Truss has blamed France for continued delays at the Dover-Calais crossing, but an MP on the French side of the Channel says Brexit is the reason for the disruption.
Queues on the roads around Dover were building again on Saturday morning, following gridlock on Friday as the six-week school break started in England and Wales. Thousands use the Dover-Calais crossing every day during the holidays to travel to mainland Europe from the UK.
The Foreign Secretary said the delays and queues were “unacceptable”, blaming a lack of staffing by the French at the border. But Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont warned they are a consequence of Brexit.
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Mr Dumont told BBC “This is an aftermath of Brexit. We have to run more checks than before.”
Mr Dumont also said the Port of Dover is “too small” and there are too few kiosks due to lack of space.
Ahead of the school holidays, the UK's Foreign Office issued a warning to British tourists heading to France. It said to expect delays and disruption.
A “critical incident” was declared by the port due to the queues. Tourists were urged to consider staying away amid warnings that Saturday may be just as bad.
In a statement, Ms Truss, who is hoping to succeed Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, said: “This awful situation should have been entirely avoidable and is unacceptable. We need action from France to build up capacity at the border to limit any further disruption for British tourists and to ensure this appalling situation is avoided in future.
“We will be working with the French authorities to find a solution.”
The chief executive of the Port of Dover said being “let down” by poor resourcing at the French border was “immensely frustrating”. Doug Bannister would not commit to saying the problem will clear in the coming days, but said officials are doing all they can.
A French official said an “unforeseeable technical incident” in the Channel Tunnel meant that the staffing of border control booths had to be pushed back from 8.30am to 9.45am on Friday morning. But Eurotunnel’s Director of Public Affairs John Keefe told the BBC that the Tunnel incident had “absolutely nothing to do with problems at the Port of Dover”.
Passengers embarking on cross-Channel sailings from Dover must pass through French border checks before they can board a ferry. The port said in a statement that it had increased the number of border control booths by 50%.
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