Operation Brock: No-deal plan begins on Kent's M20

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But shadow transport secretary, Labour’s Jim McMahon has branded the decision “an admission of failure” which showed “disregard for the people of Kent”. The announcement means that the implementation of a traffic reconfiguration to the M20 will be able to continue past its current October 31 deadline once changes have been made to the law after MPs return from their summer break.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said the alteration, which comes after a consultation, would allow Operation Brock to be used to respond to “any type of traffic disruption in the area” and not only that related to Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Traffic management measures were introduced in Kent amid fears that the UK’s withdrawal from the EU could lead to disruption for cross-Channel trade.

Kent Access Permits – where lorry drivers had to secure a permit before entering the county – and Operation Brock were part of the domestic mitigations rolled out.

A moveable barrier – which the DfT announced in April would be dismantled and stored on the hard shoulder in case required in future – was installed between Junctions 8 and 9 on the motorway for the operation’s contraflow system.

Legislation for Operation Brock legislation was first put in place in 2019 in preparation for a potential no-deal divorce from Brussels, updated in 2020 before the end of the transition period, and again in 2021 in response to the French border being closed due to fears over the UK-originated Alpha coronavirus variant – known formerly as the Kent mutation.

Ministers undertook a consultation in May and June to seek views on proposals to “bring Operation Brock within a sustainable long-term traffic management plan”, which would involve removing the existing sunset clauses that would otherwise have meant the legislation would have expired by November.

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The consultation terms said that making the change would mean Operation Brock could continue to be used “in the future as a contingency traffic management measure for disruption” – a move the department said had elicited a “positive” response.

As a result, statutory instruments – legal alterations that do not require new laws to be introduced – stripping the law of its sunset clauses will be laid before Parliament next month and will be debated in both the Commons and the Lords, officials said.

A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Operation Brock measures will remain temporary and will only be used when there is a significant risk of delays.

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“While Operation Brock was originally created to deal with disruption caused by EU exit and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, removing the sunset clauses from Operation Brock will mean the Kent Resilience Forum (KRF) is better prepared to respond to any type of traffic disruption in the area, not solely related to EU exit, including strikes and severe weather.”

Mr McMahon, MP for Oldham West and Royton, who is himself the son of a lorry driver, said: “By removing the sunset clauses on Operation Brock it’s an admission that they’ve failed to plan for the outcome of their Brexit negotiations and failed to work with local people over the past 18 months to put in place a better scheme.

“Operation Brock has proven unpopular locally and slipping out an announcement in the hope that no one notices shows a total disregard for the concerns of local people in Kent. 

“Ministers must explain whether they looked at other options and what mitigation measures they are going to put in place to reduce disruption affecting local communities.”

In October of last year, the DfT published a document entitled Proposed legislative amendments on enforcing Operation Brock.

In his foreword to the report, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Our underlying objective in all this work will be to enable trade in goods to continue to flow smoothly between the UK and the EU.

“But this will be an important moment of change, and there is at least initially a risk of some additional friction at the border – notably if goods arrive without having completed the necessary customs and other processes.”

He added: “It is thus important that we put in place plans both to minimise the risk of disruption and to mitigate its impact should it occur.

“And we need of course to have a particular focus in that context on the Short Straits, given the volume of traffic that moves both on the ferries leaving Dover and through the Channel Tunnel.”

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