Is Macron grandstanding?

It's all about this new strain Kitty as he doesn't want it in France as well as here where it appears to have come from, so he wants everyone to be tested-----which this government should have done from the start when flights were coming in thick and fast from goodness knows where.

The only thing Boris should be getting the blame for is his minging hair cut.
And yes i blame M Macron,i do feel sorry for those drivers though.

I have a soft spot for Macron, and he's still quite poorly with the virus, so it's probably his advisors who are taking this tough line. With much pressure from the french Unions who are still very powerful in France.

EllanVannin

It's all about this new strain Kitty as he doesn't want it in France as well as here where it appears to have come from, so he wants everyone to be tested-----which this government should have done from the start when flights were coming in thick and fast from goodness knows where.

I know that Ellen!

The new strain of the virus isn't confined to the UK. It is already on the continent!

When the news about the queues started, why on earth did more lorries join them,.. ridiculous! Why didn't the ones at the back just turn around and drive back to the depot releasing ones further down the line?

Got it in one Kittylester !
Macron’s popularity has waned since the halcyon days of his election and he has to bear in mind the ever present threat from the likes of Marine Le Pen and the next elections.
Yes, IMO he absolutely is.

EllanVannin
It's all about this new strain Kitty as he doesn't want it in France as well as here where it appears to have come from, so he wants everyone to be tested-----which this government should have done from the start when flights were coming in thick and fast from goodness knows where

Sadly not true EV .

Just interested, does Macron have a Cummings in charge while he is indisposed?

I imagine the new strain is everywhere and quite possibly was anyway before it was identified here.

I'm no particular fan of Macron but really don't think he was grandstanding - on Sunday Matt Hancock did gravely announce that the new variant was out of control!

And surely it caused nearly as much disruption on the French side as it did ours?

Tim Spector (Kings College) in his update today said
1. The mutation has been around for months and the scientists have known about it
2. There’s no firm evidence (so far)that this mutation is more transmissible than other forms of the virus.
But let’s just blame the British people & the British government anyway and kick the boot in.
Yes kitty he’s grandstanding.

But I think that the media & official scientists here have overplayed the ‘new’ virus to justify increased restrictions.
Unfortunately it’s come back to bite them on the bum as Macron et al have taken them at their word & then used it to their own political advantage.

It does appear that the media are placing the blame on the uk, which is just ridiculous. I would demand that French lorry drivers entering the Uk have a negative test too.
Political game of chess at its worst! It will take days to clear.

I don't think it is quite as simple as lorry drivers listening to the news, hearing about queues at ports and turning back. They are contracted to take a load, and unless they are owner drivers there is little they can do, sadly. I think this situation is probably a combination of poor management here and a bit of electioneering from Macron. He needs to show he is taking the health of the electorate seriously, and to be honest, any leader who is careless enough to leave their borders open knowing there is an added viral problem deserves any criticism they get. The tabloid press, with their jingoistic war like attitude to fishing boats in the Channel have added fuel to the fire.

I imagine the new strain is everywhere and quite possibly was anyway before it was identified here
Yes Terribull one of the scientists admitted in an interview on C4 news the other day that it only appears to have started here because we have the best genome tracing facilities in the world.

MawBe

EllanVannin
It's all about this new strain Kitty as he doesn't want it in France as well as here where it appears to have come from, so he wants everyone to be tested-----which this government should have done from the start when flights were coming in thick and fast from goodness knows where

Sadly not true EV .

What is not true about this? I'm not sure that the virus 'has come from' the UK - not saying it didn't, but I'm not a virologist so couldn't say with confidence one way or the other - but the rest of it seems true to me.

We absolutely should have closed the borders back in March - as an island we had a massive advantage over the rest of Europe - but look at us now.

yorklady I agree. There was a strong mutant strain in Spain and South Africa before being discovered here. I would have thought infections from Spain would have caused the greater spread of infection in France.

We are also at risk if being contaminated from those entering the UK. I really do think this behaviour from.Macron is a political stunt that will backfire...and as for his last minute opposition to the future fisheries policy

quizqueen Wed 23-Dec-20 12:34:41

When the news about the queues started, why on earth did more lorries join them,.. ridiculous! Why didn't the ones at the back just turn around and drive back to the depot releasing ones further down the line?

The majority are trucks from mainland Europe returning home, admittedly with a return load on board. Other EU leaders have put pressure on the French which is why the logjam has started to move.

One thing that I do find reprehensible is that those drivers have had no access to fresh water or sanitation, or so the report that I read suggests.

The borders here are also closed, there are large ferry ports with Zeebrugge and Ostend and the second largest container port in Europe in Antwerp.
Border controls have been in place for a few day between here and external land borders with Police checking if a journey is essential before allowing people to cross both ways.
Covid negative certificates are essential for anyone crossing the border.
SIL is a lorry driver and a partner in a refrigerated truck company.
One of his drivers is stuck trying to get to the UK with your Christmas cheeses, it looks like they will have to carry the loss as there are strict sell-by dates on soft cheeses and they will probably be out of date before he get to the suppliers.
The lorry has been emptied twice by customs officers from the UK which of course changes the temperature. Both times they took 8 hours to do the check!!!!!
It works both ways, he had only just started delivering again to the the UK this year but is cancelling all UK contracts.
The lorries always came back full of UK Cheese.
I could go on but just wanted to give another point of view.

I think Boris and co laid it on with a trowel about the new strain of COVID to try and scare everyone into cancelling Christmas. It didn’t seem to occur to our government brainboxes that this was an ideal excuse for Macron to stick the boot in, though he’s now experiencing his own negative reaction. Like others, I don’t understand why lorries continue to pile into Kent and expect a fairy godmother to magic them across the Channel.

tidyskatemum

I think Boris and co laid it on with a trowel about the new strain of COVID to try and scare everyone into cancelling Christmas. It didn’t seem to occur to our government brainboxes that this was an ideal excuse for Macron to stick the boot in, though he’s now experiencing his own negative reaction. Like others, I don’t understand why lorries continue to pile into Kent and expect a fairy godmother to magic them across the Channel.

I don't think Boris needed to exaggerate the new strain of Covid when the figures have trebled and sometimes quadrupled in some areas.

I would think that as it’s so close to Christmas that most of the drivers are from Europe anyway, so maybe Macron has shot himself in the foot?
Hopefully once the vehicles get moving the U.K. drivers will turn around and go home rather than risk getting stuck over in France or wherever.

He most definitely is These are drivers from the EU waiting to go home Why not test them when they reach their destination
Totally ridiculous having them stuck maybe for days
Our police are now coming under fire from angry truck drivers

Perhaps you can tell me who is grandstanding in 60 odd countries including Spain, Hong Kong and India which have banned travel from the UK?

Because until this week Freight has been allowed through.