{"id":23986,"date":"2020-09-30T15:42:28","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T14:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=23986"},"modified":"2020-09-30T15:42:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T14:42:29","slug":"chaos-looms-as-drivers-slam-govt-over-ports-paperwork-brexit-shambles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=23986","title":{"rendered":"Chaos looms as drivers slam govt over ports paperwork Brexit shambles"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Angry lorry drivers have accused government minister Michael Gove, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098blame shifting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as he tells them to prepare paperwork for ports post-Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an impossible task as the required government systems are not yet ready.<\/p>\n

As the post-Brexit as chaos looms at the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s ports Gove warned of disruption, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bif traders have not completed the right paperwork\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

The problem is though as many freight firms and Unite have told him, this is simply not possible as government \u00c2\u00adsystems for online paperwork are still not ready.<\/p>\n

There are nine different solutions that are being put in place, including the main Smart Freight system \u00e2\u20ac\u201c but so far they all remain untested by the industry \u00e2\u20ac\u201c despite the deadline being less than 100 days away.<\/p>\n

Firms fear they will not receive prototypes until days before the end of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 11-month \u00c2\u00adtransition phase on December 31.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Kermit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gove has said up to 7,000 lorries could end up clogging the roads around Dover and the Channel Tunnel. He also announced drivers will need a Kent Access Permit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c dubbed \u00e2\u20ac\u015bKermit\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 by lorry drivers \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to enter the county. It will be enforced using \u00c2\u00adnumber plate recognition.<\/p>\n

Over 8,000 haulage firms and 85,000 exporters will need to complete electronic forms to reach the port of Dover \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or face \u00c2\u0141300 fines. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf traders have not completed the paperwork, their goods will be stopped. It is essential they get ready,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Gove.<\/p>\n

Both the Road Haulage Association and Logistics UK, which represents exporters, say his message has been designed to camouflage government failures and have joined Unite in condemning this complete government shambles.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI welcome the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s publication of its reasonable worst-case scenario, which\u00c2\u00a0Unite called for last week<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Unite national officer, Adrian Jones. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bHowever,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe publication of the document and Mr Gove\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s speech to MPs on September 23 will not have provided any reassurance for Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s HGV driver members, industry or the communities who stand to be impacted by looming traffic and trade chaos at our borders.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bMr Gove appeared to be warning cross-border traders and hauliers that it would be their fault if the scenarios contained within the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Brexit document, including queues of up to 7,000 lorries in Kent, come to fruition.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Full of holes\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe fact that there will be a de-facto internal border in Kent for lorry drivers, enforced by the police, is another sign that government is planning to avoid responsibility for its own mismanagement. It is outrageous that drivers, who are not required to prepare customs documentation, will be\u00c2\u00a0liable for fines because their employers got the paperwork wrong or the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s preparations are full of holes,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 said Jones.<\/p>\n

He continued, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is of course incumbent on businesses to ready themselves, but part of that preparation is familiarity with the complex new IT systems and border arrangements that, given the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dire record on software development, may not even be fit for purpose by the New Year.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt is worrying that Mr Gove could not give a straight answer on when the digital Smart Freight system will be ready for launch, especially given the warnings from logistics operators that a test version isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t expected until December. Nor did Mr Gove provide any substantial detail on the 29, as yet mostly unbuilt, Brexit lorry parks.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs a matter of urgency, the government must provide a detailed update on how far along its IT customs systems are, including identifying which private contractors are involved with designing them, publish the specific locations of the lorry parks and properly engage on this issue with unions, industry, local government and communities.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe end of the transition period is rapidly approaching, and the country cannot afford another repeat of Mr Gove\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s evasive answers and blame-shifting. Unless there is significant change of direction from ministers, Unite\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s HGV driver\u00c2\u00a0members face being stranded for days, more than likely without clean toilets, showers or decent food, with the knock-on consequences causing gridlock and doing untold damage to the economy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

By Ryan Fletcher and Amanda Campbell\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Angry lorry drivers have accused government minister Michael Gove, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster of \u00e2\u20ac\u0098blame shifting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as he tells them to prepare paperwork for ports post-Brexit \u00e2\u20ac\u201c an impossible task as the required government systems are not yet ready.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5033,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1214],"tags":[486,785,499,522,44],"wps_subtitle":"Gove \u00e2\u20ac\u0098evasive and blame-shifting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 on border readiness with less than 100 days before full Brexit","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23986"}],"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=23986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23988,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23986\/revisions\/23988"}],"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=23986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}