Travel expert Simon Calder has defended the European Union after Easter brought yet more travel chaos to British shores.
The port of Dover was forced to declare a critical incident as the big spring getaway caused long queues and serious delays at the border.
It reignited fears that the congestion could return during other peak periods due to French border officials having to stamp UK passports following the withdrawal from the European Union.
This could be escalated to a “higher bureaucratic dimension” when the entry/exit system (EES) is up and running later this year, with passport stamping being replaced by fingerprinting and a facial biometric scan.
Writing in the Independent, travel expert Calder said anyone seeking a prime example of the phrase “Be careful what you wish for” need look “no further than Rishi Sunak’s Brexit”.
The decision taken in 2016 means the UK has demanded that its citizens become “third-country nationals” in the eyes of the European Union, and insisted on aligning our status with that of travellers from Tonga, Venezuela, and dozens of other faraway lands.
“By shunning closer border ties with the European Union, we opted to line up in the slow queue when heading for France, Italy, and two dozen other nations”, Calder said, citing 90-minute queues in certain airports as Brits wait in the “all other passports” line.
The comments chime with our own experiences in Madrid Airport, which you can read about here.
Related: Caroline Lucas tells Gullis: ‘The country deserves better than you’
