{"id":23757,"date":"2020-09-16T14:15:23","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T13:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=23757"},"modified":"2020-09-16T15:14:06","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T14:14:06","slug":"release-government-brexit-border-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=23757","title":{"rendered":"Release government Brexit border report"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n\n<p>Unite has called for the public release of a government document\u00c2\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/politics\/2020\/sep\/14\/uk-not-border-ready-with-only-four-months-to-go-until-brexit\">leaked to the\u00c2\u00a0<em>Guardian<\/em><\/a>\u00c2\u00a0which details potential queues of up to 7,000 lorries across Kent after the Brexit transition period ends on 31\u00c2\u00a0December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Unite has called for the public release of a leaked govt <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Brexit?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Brexit<\/a> report that warns of potential queues of up to 7,000 lorries across <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Kent?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Kent<\/a> in the New Year. <br><br>Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AJonesUnite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AJonesUnite<\/a> said: \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe lack of detail &amp; communication from the govt is scary\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<br><br>Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/B2Y7DcoiqD\">https:\/\/t.co\/B2Y7DcoiqD<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hScmJKwJrO\">pic.twitter.com\/hScmJKwJrO<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/unitetheunion\/status\/1306234149938909185?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 16, 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Unite, the UK and Ireland\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s largest union, said the report \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as well as information on potential post-Brexit disruptions around other coastal regions housing major ports \u00e2\u20ac\u201c should be released to allow impacted industries, workers, councils and communities time to prepare.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The union, which warned on Monday that government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mishandling of Brexit customs preparations will result in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/unitetheunion.org\/news-events\/news\/2020\/september\/uk-border-brexit-chaos-and-confusion-warning-over-incomplete-it-systems-and-eleventh-hour-lorry-parks\/\"><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u0098chaos and confusion\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/em><\/a>,<em><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em>said it is&nbsp;<em><strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u0098beyond a joke\u00e2\u20ac\u2122&nbsp;<\/strong><\/em>that the report states that national IT systems to handle new border arrangements will not be&nbsp;ready for public testing until 1&nbsp;November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Adding to fears that the customs system will not be ready in time, the hauliers trade association, Logistics UK, contradicted the leaked document, saying it had been informed by the government earlier this week that the test version&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/logistics.org.uk\/media\/press-releases\/september-2020\/comments-on-post-brexit-smart-freight-system-readi\">will not be ready until mid-December<\/a>&nbsp;and that it would not be fully operational until April 2020.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Logistics UK director of policy Elizabeth de Jong said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNews that the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much anticipated SMART Freight system is unlikely to be ready by the end of the year, with the BETA version only anticipated for launch in mid-December, is a crushing disappointment for the logistics sector, which will be charged with maintaining the flow of goods across the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s borders after the end of the Transition Period on 31 December 2020.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bLogistics UK expressed dismay at today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s revelation that the system will not be fully tested and stable until April 2021 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c far too late for the end of the EU transition period at midnight on New Year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Eve. The government needs to understand the complexity of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s highly interconnected logistics industry and prioritise the allocation of more resources to deliver the system on time, to protect the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s supply chain. \u00e2\u20ac\u015b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unite has also expressed concerns that the 29 lorry parks across the UK the government is planning to build will lack proper toilet, washing, food and rest facilities for drivers left waiting for extended periods of time.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While a list of councils (some of them miles away from the coast) that will house the lorry parks has been released, the specific locations of many of the sites have yet to be disclosed to affected local authorities and&nbsp;residents.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unite national officer Adrian Jones said:&nbsp;<em>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPossible queues of 7,000 lorries clogging Kent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s road system will&nbsp;disturb residents, HGV drivers and businesses. The potential level of disruption is scary. End-to-end you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about queues that would stretch from Dover, which accounts for 22 per cent of all trade between the UK and EU, to central London.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDue to the government&#8217;s&nbsp;complete lack of communication or proper consultation it is not known what level of congestion other UK port areas \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which handle the remaining 78 per cent of UK-EU sea&nbsp;freight&nbsp;\u00e2\u20ac\u201c could be facing.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe lack of preparedness on the part of government is astounding and it is beyond a joke that the IT systems that are supposed to deal with the border system will not be ready until November, with Logistics UK now stating that the&nbsp;testing launch has now been pushed back until December.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bDrivers are facing huge delays in eleventh-hour lorry parks with no guarantee of a clean toilet, shower or a proper meal. Communities are facing gridlock and businesses are facing supply chains grinding to a halt.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government must now release the leaked document on prospective impacts in Kent, as well as similar documents for other port regions across the UK, so workers, communities, councils and businesses can properly prepare.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>\u00e2\u20ac\u015bEngagement from the government on this issue with trade unions has so far been minimal, with councils and industry also being kept in the dark. Ministers must now get their house in order and work with all stakeholders to ensure cross border operations don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come to a complete standstill on 1 January.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unite has called for the public release of a government document leaked to the Guardian which details potential queues of up to 7,000 lorries across Kent after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[486,922,522],"wps_subtitle":"Unite calls on government to publish leaked document on post-Brexit chaos in Kent","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23757"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23762,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23757\/revisions\/23762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}