First trucks start leaving lorry park amid delays It comes as drivers clash with police as they wait for tests, despite France reopening its UK border.
Month: December 2020
The travel ban was imposed on Sunday after the UK government warned of a new, fast-spreading variant of coronavirus and introduced strict tier four – “stay at home” – restrictions across large parts of southern and eastern England in response to a new variant of coronavirus.
Andrew Opie, its director of food and sustainability, told the Commons business, energy and industrial strategy committee: “What we’ve been told by members is that unless those trucks can start travelling again and go back to Spain and Portugal and other parts of Europe, we will have problems with fresh produce from 27 December.”
More than 40 countries have banned arrivals from the UK amid fears of a new coronavirus variant, and France shut its border for 48 hours on Sunday.
London and large swathes of south-east England were placed in the highest tier four restrictions over the weekend.
Nations including Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Irish Republic, Turkey and Canada are suspending UK flights.
The Port of Dover is closed to traffic leaving the UK “until further notice” due to border restrictions in France, port authorities said in a statement.
Covid-19: Christmas rules tightened for England, Scotland and Wales
Christmas rules tightened for millions The relaxation of rules for mixing is cut from five days to Christmas Day in England, Scotland and Wales – and scrapped completely for much of south-east England.
But analysis suggests the R number – which represents how many people each infected person passes the virus onto – has risen above 1 in the UK.
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Northern Ireland will begin a six-week lockdown from 26 December, with non-essential shops having to close.
What happens next with Brexit?
On Wednesday, London and parts of Essex and Hertfordshire moved to tier three amid a rise in infection rates.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said similar, tougher advice was expected to be announced for England.
It comes as London, much of Essex and parts of Hertfordshire moved into tier three restrictions overnight.