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Agencies

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is working with France in an attempt to find a way to lift border closures that have snarled one of Europe’s most important trade routes just days before the Brexit cliff edge.
Much of the world closed borders to the United Kingdom over recent days after London identified a highly infectious new coronavirus strain.
“We speak to our colleagues in France constantly on a range of issues and that work has been under way over the last 24 hours and we’ll continue today,” Home Secretary Priti Patel told Sky.
Asked if there would be a resolution on Tuesday, Patel said: “We’re working to get a resolution. It’s in both our interests to ensure that we have flow.”
“We’ll see what materialises today,” Patel said
Earlier, the BBC reported that the UK and France would set out a plan to restart freight after Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed measures to reopen the French border.
The measures were come into effect from Wednesday, the BBC said, citing French Europe Minister Clement Beaune.
France shut down freight traffic from Dover in southeast England at midnight on Sunday because of fear over a faster-spreading mutant strain of Covid-19 that forced the UK government to impose a strict lockdown on London and surrounding areas.
Johnson spoke with Macron while Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had talks with his counterpart. “We both understand each other’s positions and want to resolve these problems as fast as possible,” Johnson told a press conference on Monday.
The government is drawing up contingency plans to test truck drivers for coronavirus before they leave the UK, The Telegraph newspaper reported late Monday, citing an official it didn’t identify.

The search for a solution to keep goods flowing in and out of Britain comes after another taxing weekend for the UK at the end of a torrid year. A spike in coronavirus infections forced Johnson to backtrack on allowing people to spend the festive period together while talks with the European Union on a post-Brexit trade deal missed another deadline.
The upheaval less than 10 days before Britain’s post-Brexit transition period is due to end also gave the country a foretaste of what could ensue. Without an accord, the UK will default to trading with the EU on World Trade Organization terms, with the imposition of costly tariffs and quotas, and the threat of more traffic jams and delays at ports as haulers cope with new bureaucracy.
The economy is already buckling again, with London, the most critical dynamo for growth, in lockdown.
WHO tries to temper alarm over mutated coronavirus strain
Outside Dover on Monday, trucks lined up on the M20 highway as an emergency plan was triggered with drivers unable to board ferries. The Department for Transport also prepared to open Manston airport in Kent, which is being overhauled to accommodate as many as 4,000 vehicles as part of Britain’s planning for a no-deal outcome from the EU trade talks.
Johnson sought to play down the crisis, stressing the closure only applies to “a very small percentage” of food entering the UK. “The vast majority of food, medicines and other supplies are coming and going as normal,” he said. “The government has been preparing for a long time for exactly this kind of event.”


The UK this month became the first Western country to authorise a coronavirus vaccine. Johnson’s spokesman, Jamie Davies, said that the programme would be unaffected because the nation already has the majority of this year’s supply from Pfizer.
Shapps earlier said the border snarl-up only affects about 20 per cent of incoming trade, and that haulers are accustomed to disruption across the Dover-Calais strait because of the weather and strikes.
Countries halt travel from UK as new coronavirus strain spreads
Brexit supporters accused France of exploiting the crisis to try and force trade concessions.
Restriction of freight movements “appears political,” tweeted the anti-EU Bruges Group think tank.
Nevertheless, the latest challenge is exposing Britain’s trade vulnerabilities just as a 4 1/2-year odyssey to leave the EU moves from political rhetoric to economic reality. Container ports and ferry terminals were already congested because of stockpiling ahead of the December 31 deadline marking a final break from the European single market.
Reuters, Bloomberg, Agence France-Presse


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Coronavirus UK

Coronavirus: UK and France working on plan to lift border closure

Lorries headed to the Port of Dover, queued along the M20 motorway in Kent, Britain. Photo: EPA

epa08897833 The entrance to the Port of Dover is closed in Dover, Britain, 21 December 2020. France has closed its border with the UK for 48 hours over concerns about the new coronavirus variant. Freight lorries cannot cross by sea or through the Eurotunnel and the Port of Dover has closed to outbound traffic. EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL

WHO tries to temper alarm over mutated coronavirus strain

A passenger stands in the arrivals area of the airport in Madrid on Monday, one day before the suspension of flights from Britain. Photo: DPA

Countries halt travel from UK as new coronavirus strain spreads

The new strain forced PM Boris Johnson into locking down much of England over the Christmas period. Photo: AFP

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France shut its borders to UK hauliers in bid to contain variant of coronavirus
Stoppage lead to concerns of food shortages just days before Christmas, but the government assured Britons there was food on the shelves



Freight from France has been disrupted as part of a wider suspension of travel links with Britain to try to curb a new faster spreading strain of Covid-19.
