'Sick man of Europe': UK cut off over fears about new COVID strain

By Gerhard Mey and Ben Makori

 

Security officers stand guard at an entrance of the Port of Dover as EU countries impose a travel ban from the UK following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Dover, Britain, December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Matthew Childs

 

DOVER, England (Reuters) - The United Kingdom stood shut off from the rest of Europe on Monday after allies cut transport ties over fears of a new coronavirus strain, sowing chaos for families, truckers and supermarkets just days before the Brexit cliff edge.

 

France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada were among those that shut off travel ties after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a highly infectious new strain of the virus was a danger to the country.

 

Johnson will chair an emergency response meeting on Monday to discuss international travel, in particular the flow of freight in and out of Britain. EU officials are due to hold a meeting at 1000 GMT on coordinating their response.

 

France shut its border to arrivals of people and trucks from the United Kingdom, closing off one of the most important trade arteries with mainland Europe, a step Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said was surprising.

 

"We're doing everything we can to get that restarted," Shapps told Sky. "They've said to us they want to restart the hauliers as quickly as possible."

 

As families and truck drivers tried to navigate the travel bans to get back home in time for Christmas, Britain's second-largest supermarket chain, Sainsbury's, said gaps will start to appear on shelves within days if transport ties are not quickly restored with mainland Europe.

 

"If nothing changes, we will start to see gaps over the coming days on lettuce, some salad leaves, cauliflowers, broccoli and citrus fruit – all of which are imported from the continent at this time of year," Sainsbury's said.

 

Shellfish producers in Scotland said they had tonnes of perishable products stranded on roads as the French border was closed. Disruption in Britain will also snarl supplies to Ireland.

 

Hong Kong is also due to ban all flights arriving from the United Kingdom from midnight, becoming the first city in Asia to do so. Asian nations including Japan and South Korea said they were closely monitoring the new strain.

 

The pound fell more than 2 cents to $1.3279 and the FTSE 100 fell 2% at the open, with travel companies such as British Airways-owner IAG tumbling 15%. The yield on 2-year UK gilts hit a record low.

 

TRANSPORT CHAOS

 

Britain's Shapps said getting the bans lifted as swiftly as possible was his priority but that given British preparations for the end of the Brexit transition period, the country was well positioned for disruption.

 

Johnson on Saturday cancelled Christmas plans for millions of British people due to what he said was a more infectious strain of the coronavirus, though he said there was no evidence that it was either more lethal or caused a more severe illness.

 

The new variant contains 23 different changes, many of them associated with how it binds to cells and enters them. Shapps said Britain had done some of the best global analysis of the mutations of the virus so it was simply seeing what was already at large in other countries.

 

The British government triggered plans it had for stacking up trucks in the southeast county of Kent - part of its plans for potential disruption when the United Kingdom exits the EU's orbit with - or without - a trade deal at 2300 GMT on Dec. 31.

 

Talks on a Brexit trade deal were due to continue on Monday.

 

'SICK MAN OF EUROPE'

 

Trucks are being stacked on the M20 motorway through Kent, heading towards the ports, which is closed to normal traffic. A nearby airport will also be used to hold freight.

 

"Sick Man of Europe", the Daily Mirror newspaper said on its front page beside a picture of Johnson while the Sun newspaper said "French show no merci".

 

The closure of the Channel Tunnel and ports for onward travel to France will affect the export of goods such as fish and shell fish from Scotland to Europe, and the import of food for British supermarkets if, as expected, European drivers refuse to travel.

 

Trucks have been told to avoid Kent to prevent any further build up of trucks.

 

Jon Swallow, a director of the British logistics group Jordon Freight, said the move by France would deter European drivers from coming to Britain both now and after the end of the year for fear they will get stuck.

 

"This is a serious situation as the stockpiled goods expected here are for Christmas and to help stabilise January," he told Reuters. "This shows how fragile the cross channel route is."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-21

 

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In the pre-COVID, pre-Brexit days, bumbling, incompetant political leadership was just irritating, but now it has a direct impact on people's wellbeing.

.....and things had been going so well.......

Edited December 21, 20205 yr by Surelynot

Just now, Kinnock said:

In the pre-COVID, pre-Brexit days, bumbling, incompetant political leadership was just irritating, but now it has a direct impact on people's wellbeing.

Come on now....Boris is so funny...he's been ill don't forget (nearly died).....and his hair!!!....and he has just had a baby....no one could have done a better job.

2 minutes ago, Kinnock said:

In the pre-COVID, pre-Brexit days, bumbling, incompetant political leadership was just irritating, but now it has a direct impact on people's wellbeing.

 

  The general public need to take a lot of the blame , they have been the ones who havent been following the rules 

1 minute ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  The general public need to take a lot of the blame , they have been the ones who havent been following the rules 

 

Just now, Surelynot said:

 

Thank God we have a leader who shows us the way.....leading by example.

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  The general public need to take a lot of the blame , they have been the ones who havent been following the rules 

To an extent I agree with you, with a few caveats.

 

Firstly the mixed messaging coming out of government, a reflection of switched policy and incompetence.

 

Secondly the propaganda of  ‘anti’ messaging being disseminated on social media, be that anti-vaccine, anti-lockdown or ‘its not a deadly virus’.

 

However, non of this relieves Joe Public from their responsibilities.

 

The reason why mixed messages from government and online propaganda take a foothold is because too many people want their rights but not their responsibility.

 

Cummings breaking lockdown was wrong, it was not an excuse to break lockdown.

 

Stuff people read on the Internet is not research, it is not a valid argument against the published science based advice of Government.

 

So yes, to an extent, I agree, the General public share a large slice of the blame.

 

 

Edited December 21, 20205 yr by Chomper Higgot

1 hour ago, CorpusChristie said:

 

  The general public need to take a lot of the blame , they have been the ones who havent been following the rules 

Not true. The vast majority have followed the rules. Even though the rules have been confusing and arbitrary. The tiny minority that have not followed the rules HAVE made the headlines.

If there are as many cases of this 'new variant' rife in the UK at this later stage of reporting, then you can 100% guarantee it's already rife in Europe just not declared. Few more days and the rest will admit it.

 

You can also guarantee China will now blame UK for the virus.

10 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

If there are as many cases of this 'new variant' rife in the UK at this later stage of reporting, then you can 100% guarantee it's already rife in Europe just not declared. Few more days and the rest will admit it.

 

You can also guarantee China will now blame UK for the virus.

I’m sure those Brits who insisted on using the term ‘China Virus’ will not be happy with the term ‘Brit Strain’.

1 hour ago, snoop1130 said:

 

The new variant contains 23 different changes, many of them associated with how it binds to cells and enters them. Shapps said Britain had done some of the best global analysis of the mutations of the virus so it was simply seeing what was already at large in other countries.

 

Indeed, this has almost certainly been spreading around the entire world for months.

 

It was previously found in both the Netherlands and Denmark, now they also noticed it in the UK.

 

It's already everywhere.

1 hour ago, Surelynot said:

Come on now....Boris is so funny...he's been ill don't forget (nearly died).....and his hair!!!....and he has just had a baby....no one could have done a better job.

My dog could have done a better job. And has better hair.

26 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I’m sure those Brits who insisted on using the term ‘China Virus’ will not be happy with the term ‘Brit Strain’.

Is it?

Already can be found in Europe as far as I know.

 

humm.. dont be so quick to criticise.

 

similair, more virulent , strains of the virus have been found in denmark, the netherland and the uk, all countries that happen to be in the forefront of gnome testing... in other words they found this strain because they were looking for strains.

 

just because other countries say they dont have the strain doens't mean that's true; have they been testing/looking for other strains?

Why are people stranded in the UK?

What on earth were they doing at an airport or a ferry terminal during a pandemic?

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

If there are as many cases of this 'new variant' rife in the UK at this later stage of reporting, then you can 100% guarantee it's already rife in Europe

Absolutely agree. No way is this confined to UK. Nor Europe.  It already has at least a foothold pretty mich everywhere.

1 hour ago, spiekerjozef said:

Why are people stranded in the UK?

What on earth were they doing at an airport or a ferry terminal during a pandemic?

Excellent point......I'd like to know how many MP's are now stuck in London........given advanced notice of Tier 4...I guess none.

New strain, lock down, Merry Xmas.

5 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Come on now....Boris is so funny...he's been ill don't forget (nearly died).....and his hair!!!....and he has just had a baby....no one could have done a better job.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer is generally considered a reliable individual to follow at this time of year...

There have also been reports of the new strain in Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, South

Africa, US, Australia and Brazil. In the last 3 countries, it was also detected several months ago.
Maybe the EU should isolate these countries too? Oh that's right, they haven't voted for Brexit.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VUI_–_202012/01

I seem to recall a talk a year or two ago that if Brexit happened as a "hard" Brexit, there would be thousands and thousands of trucks stuck at the border and it would cause all kinds of difficulties in the UK.

 

In fact, just a few weeks ago there was this.....

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-trucks/as-brexit-cliff-edge-looms-miles-of-trucks-stack-up-near-southern-english-port-idUSKBN28K2PW

 

Is the UK being cut off now as a result of fears over this new strain something of a preview of what it'll be like if the UK doesn't reach some kind of agreement with the EU by the end of the year? 

4 hours ago, asiacurious said:

I seem to recall a talk a year or two ago that if Brexit happened as a "hard" Brexit, there would be thousands and thousands of trucks stuck at the border and it would cause all kinds of difficulties in the UK.

 

In fact, just a few weeks ago there was this.....

 

https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-trucks/as-brexit-cliff-edge-looms-miles-of-trucks-stack-up-near-southern-english-port-idUSKBN28K2PW

 

Is the UK being cut off now as a result of fears over this new strain something of a preview of what it'll be like if the UK doesn't reach some kind of agreement with the EU by the end of the year? 

More like this will be used by Boris to plead for another extension to the transition 

2 minutes ago, pegman said:

More like this will be used by Boris to plead for another extension to the transition 

There is not going to be an extension, it ends in 9 days.

We have sod all chance in next year's Eurovision Song Contest

30 minutes ago, ukrules said:

There is not going to be an extension, it ends in 9 days.

Here's a news story about this from today : https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1375141/Brexit-news-boris-johnson-transition-extension-delay-eu-no-deal-barnier-frost-latest

Should just put the goods on a dinghy with an illegal immigrant and they will get a French naval escort across the channel for good measure.

It's more like EU giving UK a final spanking for leaving.

3 hours ago, katana said:

Should just put the goods on a dinghy with an illegal immigrant and they will get a French naval escort across the channel for good measure.

Of course, and a Banksy sponsored shuttle will take them to destination while the  RN keeps an eye on French fishermen trespassing British waters   

2 hours ago, wombat said:

It's more like EU giving UK a final spanking for leaving.

I don't see it like that UK should shut it's and concentrate on getting the pandemic out the way.

UK is with Russia in trial of vaccine.