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Original poster

School ski trip cancelled due to chaos in Dover - fuck the tories

1000 replies

TheColourofspring · 02/04/2023 10:57

My 15 year old son has just spent 17 hours in a coach in dover waiting to go on a much anticipated ski trip. It’s cost us over £1500 over a year and we hoped, given everything our kids lost over covid, it would be a positive experience.

The school just notified us to say that now- due to health and safety, drivers hours etc- the trip needs to be cancelled and the kids are on their way back from dover.

Absolutely FUCK the lying Tory cunts - they ruin everything. They try and blame the French yet all of this lies at their door. Fuck them all for ruining 100 kids trip (and probably thousands more) and ruining everything they touch with their stinking corrupt lies and their lies about brexit.

My son was in tears.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
IClaudine · 02/04/2023 14:42

There is a lot of denial on this thread.

myrtleWilson · 02/04/2023 14:43

Roussette · 02/04/2023 14:13

Sounds like it!

New laws coming in that we can't travel over Bank holidays, Easter or Christmas because it will be too busy and the country can't cope lol

Show quote history

You may jest @Roussette but Simon Calder was on the radio about an hour ago saying that Eurostar and Ferries are already/will be operating at reduced capacity - deliberately not selling tickets - in the Autumn when the finger prints/biometrics come in. He was saying that current assessment for passport control for family of 4 in a car crossing via ferry is about 90 seconds (up from a few seconds pre Brexit) - when the next set of requirements come in (due end of this year but SC thinks it may get pushed back to post olympic games in Paris) - estimated time for assessment for same family of 4 is now 10 minutes - there will simply not be the capacity to make the required legal assessments to a full Eurostar/ferry so they'll reduce ticket sales.....

Naunet · 02/04/2023 14:43

Tophy124 · 02/04/2023 14:39

Tory party are scum. They have done nothing but destroy destroy destroy and make life SO much harder for everyone except their rich friends. So yeah we CAN and should blame stuff on this despicable government.

🙄 the public wanted a referendum, the government gave the public a referendum, the public voted for Brexit. That’s called democracy, like the outcome or not.

Untitledsquatboulder · 02/04/2023 14:43

torquewench · 02/04/2023 14:35

Somewhat ironic that it's an EU regulation (561/2006) which limits the coach driver's "driver hours, etc." though, eh?

You'd be happy with coach drivers driving your kids about on no sleep then eh?

Notonthestairs · 02/04/2023 14:44

The Eurostar has had to reduce capacity by a third to manage the new checks.

www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/eurostar-trains-between-uk-paris-carrying-30-fewer-passengers/

IClaudine · 02/04/2023 14:44

Take back control, they said. But don't take responsibility for the subsequent shit show. Oh, no. That's always someone else's fault.

TheSnootiestFox · 02/04/2023 14:45

DuncinToffee · 02/04/2023 14:41

So you voted leave to stop immigration?

Show quote history

I didn't vote Leave at all. But you can absolutely understand how it happened.

RedEyeBaby · 02/04/2023 14:46

Maze76 · 02/04/2023 13:49

Whilst I somewhat agree that Brexit has paid a part in this utter shambles, in the 80’s for my school trips to France, I travelled on a paper ‘ temporary’ passport, and we had none of this chaos. I acknowledge the number of travellers has increased since the then , but so has technology, so there must be a system that can be utilised to speed up this process.

Yes, the port of Dover, which is a company, has not invested in the technology to speed up processing freight vehicles by ANPR, which the chunnel HAS done. I've mentioned this but this thread is a bun fight of who can get the most C-words in whilst pounding their breast.

Villssev · 02/04/2023 14:46

Loads of school ski trips planned to depart today and yesterday. Many subjected to same wait time. They have all proceeded (my son’s school, and two friends with teens at different school).

sounds like your son’s school is a bit of an outlier

either way. Hope you’ve run him in a bath and ordered his favourite take out

JocelynBurnell · 02/04/2023 14:46

Naunet · 02/04/2023 14:43

🙄 the public wanted a referendum, the government gave the public a referendum, the public voted for Brexit. That’s called democracy, like the outcome or not.

Show quote history

What the public got lies, lies and more lies.

But, no doubt, you are an expert @Naunet

myoldmansatrendydustman · 02/04/2023 14:47

Another76543 · 02/04/2023 14:27

Exactly. The situation at Dover is a disgrace. Whether we agree or not, Brexit was voted for, and we have to deal with the situation we are in. There’s no point in stamping our feet saying that a vote which happened 7 years ago wasn’t fair. We have to look forward.

Dover Port authorities and French border control know what passport checks have to be made. They know how many passengers they are expecting. To have 1 or 2 border control staff processing that number of coach passengers is ludicrous. Whoever made the decision to have such low staffing numbers has questions to answer.

Why is the situation so much worse at the ferry terminals? The Eurotunnel and Eurostar terminals seem to be managing, as do the vast majority of EU airports. I’ve travelled a lot since the passport checks have been increased and have never come across such inefficiency as the border control at Dover. We cannot just blame Brexit for this. Yes, there are more checks, but it doesn’t take a genius to work out that 1 or 2 members of staff at border control was never going to be enough.

I speak as someone whose child has been caught up in the Dover debacle.

Show quote history

Why is the situation so much worse at the ferry terminals?

I have given the answer to this several times.

There is an optimum speed at which a ferry can be loaded.

The ship has to be stable when it sails that is called "trim".

Ferries have a draught of about 20 feet - ie that is the depth of the ship below the waterline. They have to put lorries and coaches in the hold to act as ballast. This causes the ship to sit lower in the water and makes it more stable. They have to do this first and do it evenly to keep the ship upright, They know how many lorries /coaches are booked but not necessarily exactly when they will arrive.
They cannot start loading cars unless they have a certain number of lorries on board or the ship would 'turn turtle'.
All lorries and coaches have to be chained down in the hold to stop them moving about. This takes time.

You could have 100 people checking passports but that won't speed up the loading. Travellers are advised to get to the terminal 90 mins before sailing during 'normal' times.

For those of you complaining about this all I have to say is "Herald of Free Enterprise"

IClaudine · 02/04/2023 14:47

Untitledsquatboulder · 02/04/2023 14:43

You'd be happy with coach drivers driving your kids about on no sleep then eh?

Show quote history

It is incredible, isn,'t it? The utter foolishness of some posters and their desperation to prove that anything the EU does is bad.

Keepingthingsinteresting · 02/04/2023 14:47

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

Go on then, explain what s in store that’s so great- so far it’s just an embarrassing shift show with the country going increasingly downhill by the day. Oh, unless you’re just a deluded idiot @TomatoFrog who has to say this stuff to avait facing up to the reality that you and the choices of those like you have fucked up the future for this country.

RedEyeBaby · 02/04/2023 14:48

myoldmansatrendydustman · 02/04/2023 14:47

Why is the situation so much worse at the ferry terminals?

I have given the answer to this several times.

There is an optimum speed at which a ferry can be loaded.

The ship has to be stable when it sails that is called "trim".

Ferries have a draught of about 20 feet - ie that is the depth of the ship below the waterline. They have to put lorries and coaches in the hold to act as ballast. This causes the ship to sit lower in the water and makes it more stable. They have to do this first and do it evenly to keep the ship upright, They know how many lorries /coaches are booked but not necessarily exactly when they will arrive.
They cannot start loading cars unless they have a certain number of lorries on board or the ship would 'turn turtle'.
All lorries and coaches have to be chained down in the hold to stop them moving about. This takes time.

You could have 100 people checking passports but that won't speed up the loading. Travellers are advised to get to the terminal 90 mins before sailing during 'normal' times.

For those of you complaining about this all I have to say is "Herald of Free Enterprise"

Show quote history

Yes, and the lack of investment in ANPR to speed up checks at the port compared to the tunnel.

Naunet · 02/04/2023 14:48

JocelynBurnell · 02/04/2023 14:46

What the public got lies, lies and more lies.

But, no doubt, you are an expert @Naunet

Show quote history

The public are fully capable of informing themselves. I believe in democracy, even if I don’t agree with the outcome, I never claimed to be an expert, no need for dramatics.

FamilyLife2point4 · 02/04/2023 14:48

Barbie222 · 02/04/2023 11:41

My niece is in same situation. Booked trip a year ago, waiting since last night to board a ferry. Will have to abandon the trip if they can't sail today as it's just 3 nights. Awful and mostly due to Brexit. The fuckers who voted for this need to be constantly reminded of their arrogance and stupidity.

As does anyone who has the audacity to vote Tory. The amount I’ve seen on here try to justify it as ‘not as bad as Labour/Greens’ bla bla. Load of bollocks. Could vote independent or deliberately all spoil ballots to show disgust. Instead they hop in line, vote for that scrounging lying scum then complain about it 😡

RedEyeBaby · 02/04/2023 14:49

IClaudine · 02/04/2023 14:47

It is incredible, isn,'t it? The utter foolishness of some posters and their desperation to prove that anything the EU does is bad.

Show quote history

When I was a kid on long haul we'd have two drivers and they'd take turns to sleep.

Villssev · 02/04/2023 14:49

Personally Op

i would be very relieved by this restriction OP. Who’d want their child being driven on montano roads by a coach driver who’s basically not slept for a day

jgw1 · 02/04/2023 14:49

DuncinToffee · 02/04/2023 14:41

So you voted leave to stop immigration?

Show quote history

Of ccourse, leaving the EU was entirely to stop migration.

Which is why we should as John Redwood almost said this morning, applaud thee French for helping with us to stop migration by not letting anyone leave. Brits should holiday at home picking turnips.

Villssev · 02/04/2023 14:49

RedEyeBaby · 02/04/2023 14:49

When I was a kid on long haul we'd have two drivers and they'd take turns to sleep.

Show quote history

What’s your point?

PicklePumpkinPie · 02/04/2023 14:49

What is the reason? Brexit! As this article explains.

www.kentonline.co.uk/dover/news/port-of-dover-travel-chaos-explained-284749/

torquewench · 02/04/2023 14:50

Untitledsquatboulder · 02/04/2023 14:43

You'd be happy with coach drivers driving your kids about on no sleep then eh?

Show quote history

That's not what I'm inferring, no. Just joining the debate xx

myoldmansatrendydustman · 02/04/2023 14:51

RedEyeBaby · 02/04/2023 14:48

Yes, and the lack of investment in ANPR to speed up checks at the port compared to the tunnel.

Show quote history

Have you even read one word of my post?

You could have 100 people checking passports but that won't speed up the loading.

ANPR won't speed up loading either - it just moves the 'bottleneck' on to the dock.

IClaudine · 02/04/2023 14:51

jgw1 · 02/04/2023 14:49

Of ccourse, leaving the EU was entirely to stop migration.

Which is why we should as John Redwood almost said this morning, applaud thee French for helping with us to stop migration by not letting anyone leave. Brits should holiday at home picking turnips.

Show quote history

John Redwood is a wonderful politician with an impressive grasp of the Welsh language.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow · 02/04/2023 14:51

This reply has been deleted

This has been deleted by MNHQ for breaking our Talk Guidelines.

No, this is entirely of the government’s making. Brexit to blame.

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