Brexit guilty, says Macron ally after current chaos at Dover

Brexit is guilty for the lengthy queues of site visitors on the Port of Dover, a senior French politician has claimed in a transfer unlikely to endear him to the UK authorities.

And he additionally took a swipe at to port itself, describing the truth that, in contrast to ports on the continent, it’s owned privately as “not optimal”.

George-Francois Leclerc was chatting with French broadcaster BMFTV in a extensively circulated clip recorded earlier than extra disruption on the port over the latest weekend.

And Mr Leclerc, appointed Prefet Du Nord for the Haut-de-France area, which incorporates Calais, by French President Emmanuel Macron, took the chance to mount a sturdy defence of his nation’s dealing with of the scenario, insisting issues worsened as a direct results of the UK’s resolution to give up the bloc in 2016.

Speaking concerning the weekend of June 21-22, Mr Leclerc, defined: “What happened yesterday? Three things. First, a serious accident at the M20 that you can verify.

“Neither the British nor the French authorities are to blame.

“It was an accident that created an important traffic jam. I want to thank the French police for their work so British citizens could cross the border as easily as possible.”

In a direct reference to the choice to go away the EU, Mr Leclerc additionally burdened that “a port system is a system of solidarity”.

He defined: ”Passport management of each British citizen who crosses the border is important as a result of Brexit occurred.

“Before, it was only a simple identity card. Now, we need a passport check. It’s not the same.

“And thirdly, did the transport companies get as many reinforcements as the French police yesterday? I don’t think so.

“Yesterday, in fact, the French police arrived quickly after the accident. The full capacity, 15 lines open, was delayed by a bit more than an hour.

“So three reasons: the accident, Brexit and the way the port of Dover is handled, which is private, is not optimal.

“We take our share of the responsibility, but the full responsibility is shared.”

Roughly 17,000 individuals handed by means of the Port of Dover on Saturday morning en path to France, with many ferry passengers ready hours to get by means of site visitors on the border.

Officials instructed individuals they have been going through waits of as much as two hours upon arrival on the port to clear passport management, which is run by the French Police Aux Frontieres.

Traffic jammed up alongside the A20 in direction of Folkestone for about 5 miles, with some congestion extending into the city and briefly blocking an ambulance.

Overnight, officers urged travellers to not arrive greater than three hours earlier than their sail time.

Some drivers vented their frustration by honking their horns, with port officers saying shortly earlier than 11am there have been waits of 150 minutes.

These have been decreased to 45 minutes by 2pm, with officers writing on Twitter: “The border processing time from arrival at the Port is 45 minutes with traffic flowing well – we thank you for your patience during a busy morning for summer travel.”

French police mobilised all of its border management employees, who stayed in UK inns to keep away from any gaps in shifts.

(Additional reporting by Maria Ortega)