All roads from Dover gridlock lead to Brexit | Letter

An extra minute of processing time for each car at border control means hours of queueing for travellers, says David Hammond

Yet again this Tory government, supported by its cheerleaders in the rightwing media, uses the travel chaos in Kent as an excuse to blame the French for its own failings (Kent travel chaos: is there a fix and should Brexit take the blame?, 25 July). The cause of this chaos is in plain sight: Brexit.

It’s simple arithmetic. Dover is a port of entry to the Schengen area and passports must now be stamped. With around 10,000 cars transiting the port on Saturday, even with a conservative estimate of one minute of extra processing time per car, this adds an additional 166 hours for traffic to clear French border control. The French should be congratulated for the speed at which they are processing each car, not accused of being asleep on the job.

This government has also failed to invest in infrastructure despite warnings by the local communities in which I live. The A2 is still a single carriageway into the port, the M20/A20 becomes a lorry park because there has been no investment in holding areas and no thought has been given to nearby alternative ports such as Ramsgate.
David Hammond
Woodnesborough, Kent

Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.

Letters

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Dover ferry passengers advised to arrive early amid fears of summer-long disruption
Cross-Channel ferry passengers told to arrive in good time for border checks after weekend of delays

Lisa O'Carroll and Aubrey Allegretti

25, Jul, 2022 @12:59 PM

Article image
Channel travel chaos continues with ‘holiday hell’ at Eurotunnel
Holidaymakers hoping to cross from Dover and Folkestone to France on Sunday told to expect long delays

Josh Halliday

24, Jul, 2022 @9:40 AM

Article image
The Guardian view on Brexit and the border: all jammed up | Editorial
Editorial: The chaos in Kent may have eased for now, but the problems it revealed are far from being solved

Editorial

25, Jul, 2022 @5:29 PM

Article image
Dover delays force UK Home Office to send in reinforcements
British officials drafted in to work with French border police after ‘extraordinary disruption’ caused by security checks

Caroline Davies in London and Kim Willsher in Paris

24, Jul, 2016 @1:58 PM

Article image
Travel chaos is ‘the new normal’ after Brexit, British tourists are warned
Anger over lack of cash for Dover upgrade as Tory candidates try to blame France for delays

Michael Savage, Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Miranda Bryant

23, Jul, 2022 @7:00 PM

Article image
The judge who was barred from the tennis club | Brief letters
Brief letters: Racism in British Guiana | Blue badges | ‘Brexit isn’t working’ | Critical Guardian shortages | Continental holidays | TV listings

Letters

25, Jul, 2022 @5:41 PM

Article image
France rejects blame for Dover gridlock, saying it is ‘not responsible for Brexit’
Travellers told to allow three to four hours to pass through security and French border checks at port

Miranda Bryant and Jon Henley

23, Jul, 2022 @5:03 PM

Article image
Covid exposes the folly of Britain standing alone | Letters
Letters: Readers on how Brexit and the pandemic have come together to create the perfect storm

Letters

22, Dec, 2020 @5:31 PM

Article image
Gridlock at Dover as lorries wait for disrupted ferry services
Drivers queueing in traffic for hours while part of the M20 is being used to park lorries

Clea Skopeliti

02, Apr, 2022 @10:17 AM

Article image
Are the Dover delays revenge for Brexit – or bad news for Theresa May? | Mary Dejevsky
The 14-hour traffic jams on approaches to the Channel port have been blamed on French spite, but they have shown up a critical lack of Home Office planning

Mary Dejevsky

25, Jul, 2016 @9:31 AM