Dover delays might be worse than nightmare 14 hour fears as vacationers keep away from UK
Frustrated holidaymakers might face even longer queues than feared in Dover this yr – with worldwide vacationers already avoiding the UK in consequence, MPs heard.
New post-Brexit border controls requiring folks to supply fingerprints and pictures are set to return into drive in October. Earlier this month Ashford Borough Council in Kent stated 14 hour queues are a “reasonable worst case scenario” – however an area chief stated the scenario might be much more grim.
Roger Gough, chief of Kent County Council, advised MPs: “Some of the figures I think you’ve heard quoted around 14 hour delays are being cited. that does not seem to us unrealistic. In fact, in some ways that could under some circumstances, you had an extra aggravating pressures, it could be worse. Certainly when we go back again to, I think it’s the summer of 2022, we were looking at I think it’s 15 hour delays at that point.”
MPs heard earlier lengthy delays on the Port of Dover are having a devastating impact on tourism, with European journey corporations excluding the UK from excursions altogether. Deirdre Wells, chief govt of Visit Kent, stated: “I was at a trade fair with hundreds of buyers from all over the world really keen to feature Kent, but for key markets like Holland and Scandinavia, a number of them has said that they’ve taken Kent and the UK out of their itineraries because they were worried about congestion.”
She went on: “I think any further delays that we might see could be really worrying particularly in the back of a very, very difficult period last year. when we saw up to 19 hours of delays.”
Experts have lengthy warned there will likely be bother when the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) is launched. People getting into the EU will likely be required to have their fingerprints scanned and {a photograph} taken to register them on a database the primary time they enter a member state.
The Port has beforehand stated it would not have sufficient area to arrange the required cubicles to hold out checks. Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, who chairs the European Scrutiny Committee, stated the Government “is just not taking enough interest in this”.
He advised members: “You’ve got this massive, great influx of people and you’ve got an enormous economic opportunity. You’ve got problems in Dover, because of the space there. I don’t know what the answer to that is. Some people might even suggest you start building into the sea. I don’t know about that.
“But what I’m saying is, there’s a actually major problem. And the impression I’ve received is that the federal government are merely not participating.”
