Quote Originally Posted by JamesWales View Post
No, I'm not. Movement is less free. There are more checks on some goods, passports are generally stamped and people have lost the automatic right to live within the EU. These are facts and I understand why for some people they were reasons to vote Remain six years ago and why they may still be bitter now.

But that doesn't mean that other issues cannot cause delays, or that problems didn't exist before, or that new problems can't be solved, or that new opportunites can't emerge outside the EU, or that all of the issues now are necessarily needed.

Problems come, problems go. This default position of many to kinda fold their arms and say, "well thats Brexit!" it's neither helpful nor in most cases truthful. Much better to try and find solutions.

It's also just one of many many ways of assessing the UK's position since 2016, and I would suggest there are more important ones. The optics for the EU's economies are generally worse than ours at the moment. (not Brexit related, I would add, although the EU's stance on Russia is questionable)

Incidentally, if there were queues like we saw two weeks ago every week, I absolutely would largely blame brexit - I asked Jon1959 if he was willing to bet on the chaos continuing, and he declined. I think it would have been fun (and I was a little worried!)
Of course there are other reasons for delay than just post-Brexit passport and customs checks. I said that several times further up this thread - as have others - mainly spikes in passenger and freight vehicles and a temporary shortage of French border officials which may have been a factor for 2-3 hours on the first day. In combination with the Brexit delays (which by themselves may have created significant queues and congestion) they created days of chaos.

But you keep denying that Brexit is a factor - in the face of public statements from the Port of Dover Chief Executive, transport and travel experts and Jacob Rees-Mogg. I am surprised if, contrary to expert and insider predictions, the Dover problems have gone away. Most were predicting up to 2 years of continued intermittent blockages leading to significant delays.

Your 'bet' was nonsensical (unless all the same factors applied in subsequent days to the same extent, which was never going to happen) so I decided not to play. Sorry to disappoint.

'Problems come, problems go.... Much better to try and find solutions'. I'm sure there are thousands of people out there on both sides of the channel looking for solutions - increased capacity, enhanced technology, greater numbers of staff cramming into those 15 booths and process/procedural changes that shave seconds of the process. Unfortunately none of those thousands of people are here on the CCMB. In the absence of any relevant responsibility or expertise, we will have to content ourselves with banter and comment - some of it critical. Again, sorry to disappoint.