Brexit played part in Dover chaos, admits No 10 after Braverman blames bad weather and Easter

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No 10 has admitted that 'new processes' put in place after Brexit contributed to several days of travel chaos at the Port of Dover.

Suella Braverman has been accused of being in 'complete denial' after claiming on Sunday that it was unfair to say the massive hold-ups in Dover were 'a negative effect of Brexit'.< /p>

Despite recurring problems with traffic jams in Kent in 2021 and 2022, the Home Secretary claimed controls were 'working very well at the border' - blaming the current woes on bad weather and that it was "a very busy time of year".

But Mr Sunak's official spokesman said "a combination of factors" were to blame, including new passport control processes, bad weather and high traffic volumes at Easter.

Asked about the role of post-Brexit checks, the spokesman acknowledged that French authorities are now required to inspect and stamp every passport when passengers leave the UK. manual checks.

"That is why the authorities have had plenty of time to prepare for the new checks, including during the transition period, of course, and we are in discussion with our French counterparts on how we can further improve the flow of traffic."

No 10 officials said the government was "working with our French counterparts to increase our ability to move traffic and goods freely." passengers".

It comes as the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has called for "crisis talks" with Rishi Sunak's government, the Port of Kent and ferry companies to "resolve this mess once and for all".

The coach operators' body claimed their vehicles were "treated unfairly" after thousands of passengers were stuck in long queues of up to 24 hours over the weekend.

Queues for travelers heading to Europe for Easter had cleared on Monday morning, but there are fears that congestion could return for other periods peak due to French border authorities carrying out additional post-Brexit checks.

The CPT claimed the coaches were 'held behind cars and heavy goods vehicles', meaning some of their passengers were delayed for up to 24 hours. The travel body said it fears the situation will 'only get worse' when the start of the summer holidays...