Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
The UK faced threats of food insecurity and panicked shopping days before Christmas, as European countries restricted trade and traveled to protect themselves from a resurgent coronavirus, and Britain previewed the border chaos that would come without a Brexit deal.
Fearing a fast-spreading new strain of the virus enforcing a strict lockdown across England, France suspended travel from the UK for 48 hours on Sunday and Germany halted arriving flights from Britain. The crisis gave new urgency to negotiations for a trade agreement with the European Union, which remained at a critical stage after the weekend talks. The French government wants a stricter testing regime before the blockade is lifted.
A truck stops at the port of Dover, UK on December 21.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe / Bloomberg
Late Sunday, the port of Dover halted freight transported by truck to France, while unaccompanied freight continued to move. Although traffic to the UK is unaffected, truck drivers often carry supplies in both directions and the latest outbreak in the heart of the country may deter them from entering the island.
The disruptions expose Britain’s trade vulnerabilities, much like a 4 1/2 year odyssey to leave the EU from political rhetoric to economic reality. Business groups facing catastrophic losses urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to act quickly, with the 18,000-member Logistics UK calling for rapid Covid-19 testing of truck drivers leaving the country as the fastest way to protect supply chains.
‘Nightmare’
“This is the Christmas nightmare,” said James Withers, chief executive officer at the Scotland Food & Drink industry group.
He said there are more than 100 trucks laden with seafood crossing the border into the EU on their way to Christmas wholesale markets in France and Spain that are normally held on Wednesdays. Fears are growing that live shellfish will spoil if held up at the border, and the government must take action today to ensure the cargo can keep moving, Withers said.
French Transport Minister Jean-Baptiste Djebbari said European countries are working on “a solid health protocol” to be implemented “in the next few hours”. Container ports and ferry terminals were already overloaded due to stockpiling before the December 31 deadline, marking a definitive break with the European internal market.
Do not panic
In the UK, officials tried to downplay the urgency of the situation. Jamie Davies, the Prime Minister’s spokesman, urged the British not to panic and buy groceries, saying: “We have resilient supply chains and it is the case that most of our food does not come in through the short straits. . ”
When asked about the vaccine, Davies also said the UK already has “most of this year’s supply” from Pfizer Inc. has.
The frontier chaos comes at the end of a year when Johnson nearly died of the virus and was heavily criticized for his response to the pandemic – leaving the UK hardest hit by the production of a major economy, as well as a second-largest death toll. Italy in Europe.
British supermarket chain J Sainsbury Plc said it is considering using air freight for products coming from Europe. If the situation doesn’t change, Sainsbury will see “gaps” in sourcing some fruits and vegetables in the coming days, said Victoria Durman, head of Corporate Communications.
Outside Dover, trucks began queuing on the M20 motorway when the “Operation Stack” contingency plan was triggered and drivers were unable to board ferries. The Department for Transport was also preparing Manston Airport in Kent, which, according to website kent.gov.uk, is being overhauled to accommodate as many as 4,000 vehicles as part of the UK no-deal planning.
“There could be a period of disruption in some of the UK ferry ports for the next 48 hours,” said Richard Ballantyne, CEO of the British Ports Association. “We are confident that the UK will continue to supply.”
Stocks hammered
UK travel, leisure and shopping stocks slumped Monday as flights were canceled, while stay-at-home stocks such as Ocado Group Plc, got a boost. Airlines were among the hardest hit, with British Airways parent company IAG SA is down a whopping 20% and Easyjet Plc fell a whopping 18%.
Last week, Berenberg economists lowered their 2021 growth forecast for the UK from 8% to 7.3% due to new lockdowns. The economic drag of tighter restrictions and trade unrest will only deepen the hole the country finds itself in, and will cause more damage stretching from genuine retailers to already struggling European airlines.
There is the political fallout. Johnson abruptly canceled plans to allow families to mingle during the holiday season, as the government warned this weekend that the new strain of the virus is “out of control.”
There were panic scenes at train stations, with people defying social aloofness rules to leave the capital.
More than 16 million Britons now have to stay at home, mainly in London and South East England. The measures prohibit the mixing of households in the capital and the Southeast, and ensure that households can see each other in the rest of England just on Christmas Day.
– With help from Joe Easton, Kitty Donaldson, Deirdre Hipwell and Charlotte Ryan
(Updates with the latest comments from the UK and France on the health protocol from the second paragraph.)