The disruption to freight between Britain and mainland Europe caused by strikes and illegal immigration is starting to hurt British businesses, from luxury English car manufacturers to Scottish seafood exporters.
Industrial action and delays caused by migrants massed at the French port of Calais are taking a toll on the other side of the Channel, with thousands of trucks queueing up at England’s southeastern tip for ferry and freight shuttle rail services.
“While clearly hampering holidaymakers, the disruption at Calais also has an economic impact as exporters are being delayed getting their goods to market,” said Katja Hall, deputy director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, the nation’s biggest employers’ body.
The disruption is costing the British economy £250 million ($390 million, 355 million euros) a day in lost trade, according to the Freight Transport Association trade body.
UK funds 100 extra Channel tunnel guards as migrant standoff continues
Philip Hammond claims government has ‘got a grip’ on the Calais migrant crisis, with UK Border Force officials now stationed in Eurotunnel control room
Britain is to fund an extra 100 border guards at the Channel tunnel terminal on the French side, the foreign secretary Philip Hammond has announced, as he said the government has “got a grip” on the Calais migrant crisis.
As Eurotunnel reported that there were a further 700 attempts on Sunday night to board Channel tunnel trains, Hammond said that officials from the UK Border Force would start working inside the Eurotunnel control room in Coquelles.
Hammond made the announcement after chairing a 90-minute meeting of the government’s emergency Cobra committee in Whitehall.
David Cameron was absent from the meeting, after embarking on the first stage of his summer holiday in the UK. The prime minister will return to London later this week before resuming his holiday.
Hammond said: “I think we have got a grip on the crisis. We saw a peak last week, since when the number of illegal migrants has tailed off. We have taken a number of measures in collaboration with the French authorities and Eurotunnel which are already having an effect and over the next day or two I would expect to have an even greater effect.”
The foreign secretary said that ministers and officials had agreed at the Cobra meeting that Britain would fund an extra 100 guards, taking the total number to 300, at the terminal at Coquelles. The guards will be recruited by the French authorities but will be funded by the UK.
Hammond said: “I’m pleased to say we have seen a much improved level of cooperation and collaboration with Eurotunnel over the past 48 hours, with trains being cancelled where appropriate and in some cases trains being reversed back into Coquelles where there is a danger of illegal migrants being on board.
“From this evening, UK Border Force and French police will have a presence in the Eurotunnel control room at Coquelles and that will greatly enhance the practical collaborative working at the site. I also understand this evening the company has accepted our offer of additional guards and we expect up to 100 additional guards to be deployed into the terminal area.”
Hammond announced that the strengthening of the perimeter fence around the entrance to the Channel tunnel in France will be completed by Friday. Ministers hope that the pressure on hauliers will be relieved by opening up military bases to take lorries delayed by the disruption in the tunnel.
He said: “On this side of the Channel we are in the final stages of procuring some additional facilities to support the (Operation) Stack lorry-holding operations so that when it is switched on again later this week the disruption on the motorways will be less.”
Hammond also announced that Britain and France would redouble their efforts for a “more robust approach” by the European Union to return migrants to their countries of origin. The two countries will also attempt to discourage migrants from travelling to Europe in the first place, by making clear that neither has “streets paved with gold” – reiterating the claim made by home secretary Theresa May over the weekend.
On Monday ministers announced that the requirement for landlords to check on the immigration status of potential tenants is to be toughened and rolled out across the country – even before an official evaluation of the West Midlands pilot scheme has been completed.
It has emerged that the pilot scheme, which started in December, has already led to British citizens without passports being turned away as tenants.
James Brokenshire, the immigration minister, told landlords on 7 July that the six-month pilot had raised concerns about some British citizens with limited documentation who appeared to find it harder to get access to rented accommodation.
