Dover debacle...a sceptic's take.

[[3889]]

Busiest day of the year for Channel ferries and the French crack down on security causing 14 hour traffic jams and ships sailing nearly empty.
I know there is, justifiably, a febrile atmosphere regarding terrorism but I sailed from Dover the day after the Paris attacks and there was no noticeable heightened security.
Is this a taste of things to come in a post-brexit UK?
I'm a little biased, BTW: having waited 10 days to cross after losing my passport (entirely my fault) I'm now facing further delays as my booked re-launch draws ever nearer

 

[wilkinsonsails]

Living locally there is real chaos on the main access routes ,leaving smaller roads a problem too.
Unfortunatly somev clients of the sail loft spending nearly 3 hrs for a 20min journey to collect sails etc for the weekend.
I hope they sort it soon.
Cindy

 

[Bob Stay]

A pointless nightmare for the locals, as Cindy says. No problems Newhaven-Dieppe or at Pompey to Caen, St Malo etc... which suggests it's 'political' rather than genuine security-based action?

 

[maby]

A pointless nightmare for the locals, as Cindy says. No problems Newhaven-Dieppe or at Pompey to Caen, St Malo etc... which suggests it's 'political' rather than genuine security-based action?

I suspect it is more political that security related, but really they are just doing what they should have been doing for many years. Every county has a responsibility to maintain its security and controlling access via border checks is an important part of that.

 

[Norman_E]

It seems that although people had up to 14 hours in traffic jams trying to get to Dover, Eurotunnel did not have such problems, apparantly 2 hours extra was about the worst. It may have been political, but most times cock-up beats conspiracy for causing problems.