Liz Truss has called on France to act over “entirely avoidable” delays at the border as holidaymakers and lorry drivers face another day of gridlocked roads around Dover.
Bumper-to-bumper traffic, in six-hour queues, made its way towards the Port of Dover on Friday – one of the busiest periods for foreign travel from the UK as most schools in England and Wales break up for summer.
The Foreign Secretary said the delays and queues were “unacceptable”, blaming a lack of staffing by the French at the border.
But a French politician blamed Brexit for the chaos.
Pierre-Henri Dumont, Republican MP for Calais, said the problems at the Kent port would reoccur, telling BBC News: “This is an aftermath of Brexit. We have to run more checks than before.”
Mr Dumont also said the Port of Dover was “too small” and that there were too few kiosks due to lack of space.
A “critical incident” was declared by the port due to the queues, with tourists urged to consider staying away, and warnings that Saturday may be just as bad.
Speaking to Good Morning Britain, travel expert Simon Calder also pinned the blame for the queues on Britain’s split with the European Union.
He said: “Since brexit it’s been necessary to have every single passport stamped at Dover… and as a result of that everything takes much longer… “
Watch the clip in full below:
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