Brexit debate ‘back wide open' says BBC audience member

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Britain is facing a critical shortage of HGV drivers that has resulted in empty shelves in our supermarkets and a fuel crisis in recent weeks. Supermarket freezers up and down the country have been stripped bare as Britons prepare for Christmas. At one Asda branch in Birmingham, just one turkey crown remained, while a different branch had sold out entirely.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has promised there will be a “good amount of Christmas presents available” this year despite the supply issues which are showing no signs of slowing down.

Similar shortages are being seen within the European Union too, with the haulage industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Prime Minister was, however, warned of a “severe” disruption to supply chains as negotiators fought to secure a deal with the EU last year.

Rod McKenzie, from the Road Haulage Association (RHA), told the BBC in September last year that Boris and his government needed to “act now before it’s too late”.

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He said: “It is a real case of the government sleepwalking to a disaster with the border preparations that we have, whether it is a deal or no-deal Brexit at the end of December.

“The supply chain on which we are all dependent to get the things we need could be disrupted and there is a lack of government focus and action on this.”

The RHA said earlier this month that many foreign HGV drivers returned to their home countries during the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and the “vast majority” have not returned.

Combined with the cancellation of more than 40,000 HGV driver tests last year due to the pandemic, the organisation warned the UK needs 100,000 more HGV drivers to meet demand.

Mr McKenzie added in an interview with the Beeb last year: “When we are trying to emerge from the crisis of Covid, if we then plunge straight into a Brexit-related crisis, that will be a really difficult moment and we need real pace.

“The difference here is between a disaster area and a disaster area with rocket boosters on.”

The RHA explained this week that the “uncertainty or Brexit and future rights to live and work in the UK.

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News this week that Brexit is not the culprit.

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Mr Shapps has temporarily altered trading rights limits to allow more deliveries. 

A consultation is also being launched into companies’ ‘cabotage’ rights. The transport of goods or passengers are governed by cabotage rules.

Hauliers within the EU can currently only make two trips between two places in the UK in the same week.

The proposed measures would allow foreign transport operators to make an unlimited number of pick ups and drop offs over a two-week period.

The temporary visa change measures, which create opportunities for 5,000 HGV drivers and 5,500 poultry workers to take up employment in the UK until Christmas Eve, “won’t solve” the longer-term problems facing the haulage industry, Mr McKenzie told the broadcaster.

The driver shortage is at major risk of worsening as union members are to vote on holding further strike action in the coming weeks.

The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at the DVLA’s Swansea offices will hold a vote amid fears its 2,500 office-based staff are at risk of Covid.

Rob Hollyman, director of Youngs Transportation and Logistics, told The Telegraph on Wednesday that strike action would be “yet another nail in the coffin of what is left of the haulage industry”. 

The newspaper reported that the Government agency is ploughing through a backlog of an estimated 50,000 vocational driving licenses, which would make a massive difference in clearing the shortages the RHA has warned of.

Retailers have admitted they fear supply chain problems will continue into December and force prices up too.

In an internal document seen by The Independent, Amazon will warn customers to buy their Christmas presents at least four weeks early. The retail giant expects disruption within the supply chain to last until Easter.

Shoppers are not taking their chances on products not being available nearer to Christmas, so are stockpiling now.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, warned: “If people expect a crisis, they help create one by rushing to shops to buy things.”

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