Dover is closed to outbound traffic

LauraNorder

Literal again. Lots of outlets around Dover. If the very generous Sikhs can do it I’m sure the pull of the French Ambassador could arrange sandwiches and water.
Toilet facilities in most cabs, otherwise grass verges will have to suffice. Logistically impossible to provide for several thousand toilets with a days notice but food and water more important.

But many of the drivers aren't French.

Or Francophobic maybe - as those complaining about the French don’t seem to have an opinion on the restrictions imposed by 40 other countries or even Northern Ireland

Reading through all previous posts you Nezumi are the only one that made that statement.
Bed beckons over and out

‘It seems slight blinkered to suggest...’ is calling out the anti-Macron/French comments on here - not endorsing them. But you know that .

Growstuff, all embassies can shop in Tesco.
Absolutely saying goodnight. May join you all in the morning when there’s more news.
Sleep well all

Laura in your efforts to remove any responsibility for the welfare of human beings of whatever nationality from the U.K. government stranded on U.K. soil and suggest quite ridiculous suggestions about foreign embassies and Tesco and the use of grass verges for toilets suggests you would rather that than a concerted effort to provide facilities which are available in the U.K. and with, a bit of coordination could be provided. I would hope that with a bit of shared humanity U.k. citizens stranded abroad for whatever reason would be treated with humanity by locals of whatever nationality. Even if no such reciprocation were evident, it doesn’t mean we could not be the better country for showing a bit of care .

Apologies if this has been mentioned before but does anyone know if the French government had been told about the new variant before Matt Hancock announced that the virus was out of control in the South East? Or was that the first they’d heard of it. It was just mentioned in an interview on the tv.

lemongrove

Anyone blame Macron? No, thought not.....easier always for some posters to blame their own government ( simply because they are doing a bit of political point scoring) they are sadly deluded in this case.

Why would you blame him for the UK govt not being better prepared for long delays that have been forecasted for when brexit happens.

No one may have expected this delay, but future delays were/are expected.

The American take on it. They don’t seem to have been told that there are plenty of bathrooms, food & water edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2020/12/22/dover-trucks-airport-tarmac-uk-france-border-abdelaziz-sot-intl-vpx-nr.cnn

LauraNorder

They have embassies with access to Tesco!

You’re a smart capable woman I’m sure.

But this is your solution?!

I can only assume you’re deliberately being obtuse.

Feel very sorry for all the lorry drivers whatever nationality. The French government should have given 3 days notice of their intention to close the borders as it's left a lot of people stranded not just lorry drivers. Hopefully they are starting to move freight at midnight tonight after a negative test.
TBF it does make sense to limit travel and stop the spread but I think one person alone driving a lorry is quite low risk.
Been wanting to visit France for months now as I'm half French and I like to go every year or so but can't see it happening anytime soon sadly.

one person alone driving a lorry is quite low risk.

Certainly a lower risk than that one person having to get out of his cab several times to go in search of food and facilities in a “hot spot” before heading off home.

Summerlove, ‘embassies have access to Tesco’ was specifically in answer to one poster who asked how foreign governments were expected to get food to their nationals if the borders were closed. I was trying to give a simple answer to point out that there are representatives of foreign governments based in the UK with access to food outlets in the UK.
Sometimes it is much easier to get the point across with a simple example. I do not expect intelligent adults to take it literally.

Nezumi65

And tbh closing borders until you find out whether that horse has bolted is sensible.

Sequencing is super fast these days - they’ll soon have a better idea of the spread - until then, safety first.

It may be super fast, but doesn’t sound as if it’s going to start any time soon.

From the BBC website:

In order to know how far the variant has travelled or where it came from, you would need to compare notes with other countries - but comparable data very often does not exist, Prof Connor said. For example, Public Health Wales sequenced about 4,000 genomes in the past week, more than the whole of France since the beginning of the pandemic.

Slamming borders shut in a blind panic seems to be the way to go instead.

Not blind panic, but I suspect there were a number of factors that informed Macrons decision.

Among them being the new variant, and the reaction to gun boat diplomacy. Only last week HMG were threatening France with gun boats.

Well we shut our borders to Danish truckers after the mink outbreak (& made entire households quarantine for 14 days after someone in the household returned from Denmark) - so restrictions seem fairly typical.

With genome testing data, countries can use the science to react proportionately and target resources. Without carrying out the tests, countries such as France really have no idea whether this new strain or any other is circulating there already. Of course this one will always be known as the UK mutation, just as the one picked up by efficient testing in South Africa will always be attributed to them. We should have moved on since the days of “Spanish” flu.

Have just seen this on Twitter

“ Increase in Covid deaths per million since Monday

UK + 1.4%
France + 7.2%
Germany + 5.6% “

interesting?

The UK is paying $37 per dose of the Moderna vaccine. The EU is paying $18 per dose. Both buyers ordered 40m doses. The EU offered the UK to join its buying consortium, but the UK turned them down. This is the team negotiating Brexit terms of trade.

should have shut our borders a long time ago

moggie57

should have shut our borders a long time ago

Don’t worry only 10 days or so to go, and our borders will be shut.

Whitewavemark2

The UK is paying $37 per dose of the Moderna vaccine. The EU is paying $18 per dose. Both buyers ordered 40m doses. The EU offered the UK to join its buying consortium, but the UK turned them down. This is the team negotiating Brexit terms of trade.

It looks like there’s a simple reason for this.

From the BBC:

The UK, like the EU, has paid a considerable amount of money up front to help in the development of a number of vaccines that may or may not work, including AstraZeneca’s, so the final prices for those will be lower. However, it did not support Pfizer/BioNTech nor Moderna, so will be left with a high price tag for those vaccines.

Swings and roundabouts.

It is thought that more than five thousand trucks are now parked up in and around the Dover area. Manston Airfield is full with three thousand eight hundred trucks and the Road Haulage Association saying the toilet, washing and food facilities at the site are totally inadequate.

It would seem that Covid Testing at the site has started but it will take many days to get through all the drivers that are waiting to leave Britain. In the meantime more trucks are arriving to join the queue on the M20 and no one seems to know how and when testing will begin with those drivers.

The News channels are reporting that everyone caught up in the situation are very tired and tempers are flaring in Dover town centre with clashes taking place with the police.

Of course, Grant Shapps and Boris Johnson were saying in their broadcast on Monday how the Dover stack plan was a great success and more of the same should be expected following full Brexit on January 1st.

So this is "Taking Back Control".
Disgusting.

Just spoken to a relative in Dover, the whole town and surrounding areas are gridlocked.

The lorry drivers have their cabs but the hundreds of van drivers do not have the same facilities.

A couple of churches have opened for toilets but not enough for the thousands of drivers.

Food is being provided by local companies and residents.

The problem now is those that are waiting the 48hrs for test results are blocking the docks from those that already have a negative result.

Terrible situation for all involved.

For all those people calling for borders to close, this is what happens to the poor people stuck when it happens.

But measures were supposed to be in place in the event of a no deal brexit. Why weren’t these measures implemented. As why is it down to the Sikhs and Salvation Army to help these poor lorry drivers?