‘You are on your own now’ – EU lorry drivers react to pleas for them to return to UK

EU lorry drivers have rejected calls for them to come and work in the UK in a damning Facebook post.

Commenting in a group called ‘Koleka Problem’, George Mihulecea from Bucharest, Romania, said “most of the drivers left because of work condition reasons” and that it is not “worth it anymore” to come to the UK.

He added: “I wish them luck. They think drivers are waiting at the border to be employed in UK.

“Drivers shortage is just the beginning, the warehouse operators will be the next to leave.”

“You are on your own now”

Jimmy Hoffa from Pazardzjik, Bulgaria told Britain “you are on your own now”, whilst Vytautas Bielskis from Breda in the Netherlands said there is “no chance” he would come work under the post-Brexit visa rules proposed by the UK government.

Martyr Hoetmer from Amsterdam suggested there is no point moving to the UK when there is “plenty of work in the Netherlands”.

Showing a middle finger emoji at the temporary Tory proposals, Marius Blekaitis said: “Boris is hoping that 5,000 drivers will work overtime.”

Blekaitis said this would mean helping the UK with Boris Johnson’s “‘best deal ever’ shit” and then be told to get out of Britain “again”.

Lorry union

Meanwhile, an EU lorry drivers union said they will not help England with the “shit” it “created”.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 Today, Edwin Atema from the Federation of Dutch Trade Unions, said: “We will not go back to England to help them get out of the shit they created themselves”.

‘Great deal’

And a funny letter inviting European HGV drivers to work in the UK is also going viral on social media.

Jack Dart, co-founder of youth group Inspire EU and youth voter registration organisation Yes I Will Vote, spoke of a “great deal” Britain has for lorry drivers from the continent post-Brexit.

It comes as long queues of drivers were waiting at petrol stations across the country because of a shortage of HGV truckers hitting fuel supplies.

Although the government insisted before that it did not want “foreign labour” to fill lorry driving jobs, there has been a shift this weekend after persistent shortages hit various industries over recent months.

Measures announced on Sunday include 5,000 fuel tanker and food lorry drivers, as well as 5,000 poultry workers to be allowed in the UK from abroad until 24 December.

Last month, Grant Shapps admitted the road freight sector faces “historic shortages”, but said: “I do not support using foreign labour to tackle a long-standing issue in the haulage industry.”

Shapps insisted leaving the European Union has provided the UK with the “opportunity to introduce a new immigration system while building a more resilient domestic workforce”.

Andra Maciuca

Andra is a multilingual, award-winning NQJ senior journalist and the UK’s first Romanian representing co-nationals in Britain and reporting on EU citizens for national news. She is interested in UK, EU and Eastern European affairs, EU citizens in the UK, British citizens in the EU, environmental reporting, ethical consumerism and corporate social responsibility. She has contributed articles to VICE, Ethical Consumer and The New European and likes writing poetry, singing, songwriting and playing instruments. She studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield and has a Masters in International Business and Management from the University of Manchester. Follow her on: