If freight isn't allowed in from France

[justgeton]

What does this mean for our food chain?!

Without meaning to sound thick, just how long can they hold us to ransom? As surely we are their customers, they need our money for what they export.

10,000 lorries a day (5,000 each way) transport goods between Dover and Calais.

Manufacturing will cease to be able to operate very quickly due to just in time supply chain processes. Some car plants stopped last week due to holdups at the port.

Looks like we’ve run out of time in the negotiations too and it’s going to be no deal:
mobile.twitter.com/tnewtondunn/status/1340767503417565185?s=09

It’s all so totally shit.

I bet Brexit voters are well pleased. This is the sort of thing they voted for, the complete twats.

Unbelievable.

I reckon diverted to Felixstowe / Harwich / Hull

i'm beginning to worry too....and i'm usually very laid back. but i'm thinking we do need to shop a bit better now to prepare

i'm more worried that once the public calm down about lockdown they will start to panic buy ... again!

If France is closing its ports to the U.K. I imagine Belgium and the Netherlands won’t be far behind.

@Armi

I bet Brexit voters are well pleased. This is the sort of thing they voted for, the complete twats.

Unbelievable.

This and more this. Who knew it you can be in EU and control your borders.

The U.K. is a very big market for various French food products. They’ll find a way - I can’t see them refusing to make money out of us for long.

@waltzingparrot

I reckon diverted to Felixstowe / Harwich / Hull

??? Those are Container ports and its the ferries/tunnel TO France that are blocked

The Easiest Deal in History
and
We hold all the cards

I have nothing to say other than this is a total clusterfuck.

More news tomorrow as the ban is for EU wide discussion.

I guess planes could do drops

Umm, no - big logistics companies will load trailers in calais, without cabs/drivers and drivers will pick up in Dover. It already happens, but currently as part of freight flow that includes accompanied loads too. Not an option open to all companies and tricky for the common ‘consolidated loads’ with consignments for multiple companies but better than plane drops..

France wouldn't do that. They're meant to be our allies.

@Parker231

If France is closing its ports to the U.K. I imagine Belgium and the Netherlands won’t be far behind.

Yes, they are all closing to us now. As pp said, we didn't need Brexit, just a mutant virus. Interesting that the rest of the world is so much more worried about this new strain than us. We have been ignoring it for weeks until it has engulfed the South East and Matt Hancock said yesterday that everyone in the South East should behave as if they have it (but it's nothing to worry about, no, really...)

Are containers exempt ? I thought somewhere it said they were ? I have hit the Baileys now so you will have to google yourselves.

Of course it’s about Brexit

The new strain is in Italy too, bet macron won’t cut them off

uk.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-italy-idUKKBN28U0RS

Find a human in the channel, they belong to us. Find a fish, it belongs to France, funny that.

It's a reminder that countries in the EU do have control over their borders.

Maybe it's political. But there will be panic buying tomorrow.

We depend on imports from the EU more than they depend on us.

Never mind food....you do realise the vaccine is made in Belgium and comes into the UK via France.....???!!!

It's only France that have said that for 48 hours. We will still have freight coming from other countries so no need to worry.

Doesn't all our freight - or most of it anyway - from all other countries still come through France?

@justgeton

Because this looks orderly/ planned to you?

If they knew what they were doing, they would have informed the public of the ban on flights and problems with transport of freight during the press conference.

Instead other countries have gone ahead and imposed new emergency rules while the PM is playing catch up by having a Cobra meeting on Monday, after the events.

How long are you going to believe that this lot has a clue of what they are doing?

At this point, I doubt France give a fuck about a deal. or no deal. Why should they?

Macron has said 48hrs minimum, to allow EU member states to plan how best to deal with this and to put in place testing so that freight transport can get going again. He is also not the only head of state to have implemented such measures, though obviously they will hit particularly hard to do the importance of French-UK trade, a detail Raab found out not long ago.

Crimes against humanity is a good one: responsibility for feeding the UK population lies first and foremost with the UK government and their "planning" to ensure that Brexit doesn't affect food chains over the last 4 years is currently visible for all to see on the M20. France has recruited 600 extra customs agents to deal with the effects of Brexit. The UK hasn't. If a 48hr block on imports will cause deaths to a level such that it could be deemed a crime against humanity, there is a serious problem with the UK's food chain.

It would be negligent of the French President not to protect the French population from this new strain of the virus, which the UK government are saying is so contagious that it has forced them into an entirely unpredictable last-minute U-turn on Christmas lockdown.

@Armi

I bet Brexit voters are well pleased. This is the sort of thing they voted for, the complete twats.

Unbelievable.

I don’t think brexit voters voted for france banning goods leaving the uk via France. You are just using this as a another blame game to the nasty brexit camp.

I wonder what WTO terms permit de facto closing down of all passing trade?

What strain of COVID does Macron have?