As a follow on, from the original thread about dover, Chaos in Dover

[Hawkins003]

Just that really, a thread for general thoughts and perspectives about the situation

My perspectives is skeleton crew staff levels, that have held up the traffic

Can you link to the previous thread please @Hawkins003 ?

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4776423-school-ski-trip-cancelled-due-to-chaos-in-dover-fuck-the-tories?latest=1

@SmoothSeasDoNotMakeGoodSailors it's certainly a mix of perspectives

Braverman is saying there is just always going to be a backup at peak times.

Dover is the shortest crossing by sea, but don’t expect it to be efficient, lower your expectations.

A party political broadcast by the Conservative Party…

My thoughts were on Thursday/Friday : Glad I'm not going to France on the ferry* this weekend, as this weather is going to cancel/delay loads of ferries, it's going to be back to the pre-channel tunnel chaos and delays for the Easter getaway.

Why is nobody surprised?
(* Actually it was Glad I'm not going anywhere, traffic will be awful due to the rain, ferries and flights will be cancelled, traffic jams & problems everywhere, repercussions will last the weekend)

I think 'lower your expectations' is about the most honest thing the Tories have said. We've had a Tory government for 13 years, and are no longer in the EU. We shouldn't expect a European standard of living, healthcare, environmental protections, workers rights or public services. We get what we vote for. Go us!

They aaid its clear now, why do people all go at the same.time

I'm old enough to remember when it was regularly on the news about how filthy our waters were. Then the EU FORCED us to clean our seas and beaches. Thank God those days are over and we now have the freedom to pump as much shit into the sea as we want. Really makes you want to do as John Redwood suggests and holiday in the UK eating turnips.

Brexit in action. This is what 51% of the electorate voted for.

I lay the blame squarely with David Cameron for giving the British public a referendum in 2016. Funny how he couldn’t get out of Downing Street fast enough the day after the result (shitshow) was announced.

Having come over here recently from Australia, I’m not bashing the U.K. as loads of it is brilliant, but since I moved away 15 years ago there has definitely been a shift to “things will be shit and what do you expect if you’re trying to go on holiday in the holidays?”
It’s really odd - a collective acceptance that if you do something popular when other people will also be doing it, then expect it to be insanely busy and rubbish.

Tobias Elwood MP said this, so at least one conservative is being honest.

*Of course it’s connected to BREXIT👇

Our current BREXIT model resulted in an end to travel freedoms.

But as they weren’t replaced with new ones - processing takes longer - hence the delays.

To compound matters -in Nov finger print scans begin.

Hence we need a BREXIT upgrade!*

Well exactly

Self serving coward

If the last thread is anything to go by the Tory and Brexit apologists will be here in their numbers soon.

Tobias Elwood is one of the few decent Tories.

I think it's all down to insufficient staffing levels at French immigration to process the numbers arriving from the UK?

I was in Spain last week and their immigration processes for the hordes of Brits arriving was excellent, it took no more than a couple of minutes in the queue to get stamped in or out. I think if Malaga airport immigration can get it right, I don't see why Dover/Calais can't either.

Also as an aside, there were warning signs on the motorways warning of the delays from Nottingham downwards on the Saturday...

Also as an aside, there were warning signs on the motorways warning of the delays from Nottingham downwards on the Saturday.
I saw those and thought "WTF do they expect people to do* it's like that fucking road sign that shows rocks are likely to fall on your car.

@CrotchetyQuaver “insufficient staffing levels” for the post-Brexit border control procedures.

It was fine before Brexit.

It is obviously to do with Brexit, but the problem is

1. We seem to be incapable of planning
2. The French don't (and never have) give a fuck about how long we have to wait (this is not new from Brexit, but brexit hasn't helped).

Or to put it another way, why don't the companies and passport control etc anticipate the fact that certain times are busier and therefore schedule additional staff for those times. For huge numbers of people school holidays are the only time they can get away. You should still be able to expect to travel on your planned crossing etc, even if you are traveling at a busy time.

Why should The French go to any effort to make things easier for us?

re your point 2: why should the French be paying for the UK's decision to go for Brexit?

Why should The French go to any effort to make things easier for us?

This ⬆️

It isn't difficult to understand. Before Brexit your passport was checked at the UK border and as often as not you were then waved through by the French at the juxtaposed controls. Now Britain is a third country all vehicles are stopped and all passports are checked and stamped. This inevitably takes longer.
Add in holiday crowds and bad weather and it all takes a lot longer.

Well you might think it may be in their interests - but sure if they don't want travel between us and them to be very practical, sure that's entirely up to them.

Yes my son was stuck on the coach for 17 hours on his school ski trip. Took almost 2 days to get to Italy in total....
and for the PP saying go at another time: um, the school holidays are the only time.