Tory minister accused of 'disowning' Transport Secretary's plans not to check lorries in Dover after Brexit
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A Tory minister was accused of having "disowned" the Transport Secretary's Port of Dover "policy brainwave", amid fears that Kent will become a car park.
Chris Grayling suggested the Government’s plan for avoiding delays and traffic jams of trucks entering the UK post- Brexit is to simply not check them.
Estimates suggest that just a two minute check on lorries would result in queues 29 miles long.
Mr Grayling told a Question Time audience in the port town of Dover: "The first is that we will maintain a free-flowing border at Dover we will not impose checks in the port.
(Image: Reuters)
"It is utterly unrealistic to do so, we don't check lorries now, we're not going to be checking lorries in Dover in the future, absolutely clear it cannot happen."
The Transport Secretary was ridiculed at the time for failing to understand that lorries remain unchecked because of our membership of the EU.
Today Treasury Minister Mel Stride said it was "absolutely right" that Mr Grayling had said a hard border would not be created in Dover where the UK had to stop every lorry.
He later told MPs number plate recognition technology and cameras were among the ideas being discussed with port officials.
Liberal Democrat former minister Tom Brake said today it was clear from comments to the Commons that Treasury minister Mel Stride had distanced himself from Chris Grayling's remarks.
Shadow Treasury minister Peter Dowd accused the Government of a "hokey cokey Brexit" strategy while Labour's Stephen Doughty (Cardiff South and Penarth) compared it to Peter Pan by claiming Mr Stride seemed to "think you can wish a happy thought and fly out the window".
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But Independent MP Charlie Elphicke (Dover) claimed opposition MPs were members of "analogue parties" and had a "dystopian vision" in which every single load is stopped.
Speaking as MPs considered an urgent question on customs arrangements at ports post-Brexit, Mr Brake said: "I note the minister has disowned (Mr Grayling's) policy brainwave because the Government is saying they will be stopping vehicles at Dover but not all of them.
"Given that 10,000 trucks pass through Dover every day, how long will the tailback be if say one out of 10 additional trucks now need to be checked and it takes five minutes - and where will the lorry parks be built that need to accommodate that?"
Mr Stride replied: "There will be no requirement for anything like the kind of stoppages at Dover that (Mr Brake) suggests.
"We will use technology, we will facilitate the movement of trucks and goods through the Port of Dover.
"If there is an intelligence-led requirement to stop any of those vehicles that can be done outside of the Port of Dover, and we will make sure that port keeps flowing."
Mr Stride had earlier reiterated the Government's two proposed options for customs after Brexit - either a highly streamlined customs arrangement or a new customs partnership.
Mr Stride said the Government wanted to ensure that trade was as frictionless as possible, while avoiding a hard border in Ireland and allowing the UK to establish an international trade policy.
He said: "On the issue of what the Secretary of State for Transport had to say last Thursday, he said in addition to the remarks that (Labour MP Hilary Benn) has raised, we will not in any circumstances create a hard border in Dover that requires us to stop every lorry in the port of Dover.
"This of course is absolutely right."
Labour's Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, noted Mr Stride referred to automated number plate recognition.
She said: "Can he confirm that he has been discussing with the Port of Dover extensive cameras that could be part of his proposed technology solution?
"And can he also confirm that the Government rules out having those kinds of cameras at the Northern Ireland border because the Government has ruled out any physical infrastructure at the Northern Ireland border?"
Mr Stride replied: "You are absolutely right. The Government has very clearly ruled out any infrastructure at the Northern Ireland border.
"In the case of Dover and the discussions that are being held, I have to say not necessarily with myself directly through officials, all of these particular options - including the number plate recognition and so on that you referred to - have indeed been discussed."
SNP Europe spokesman Peter Grant earlier said: "The Port of Dover reckons that 99% of their traffic goes to and from the European Union and it takes these massive great lorries, on average, two minutes to get through.
"The other 1% is from the rest of the world and it takes, on average, 20 minutes to get through.
"There's no degree of customs check whatsoever that can prevent Dover from becoming less than a car park and, in fact, most of Kent from becoming a car park."
Mr Stride, in his reply, said the different approaches under consideration - including number plate recognition technology - would allow traffic to "move briskly" through the ports as they currently do.
He said: "I think the nub of this issue is this misconception that somehow having customs control at the border is the same thing as stopping every vehicle or jamming up Dover."