Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, , is demanding urgent clarity from the Government over
its post-Brexit plans.
Speaking on a visit to the site of a proposed giant lorry park in
Kent, she criticised the Government’s failure to use the four
years since the EU referendum to plan for the end of the
transition period on December 31.
Rachel Reeves was joined on the visit to the 27-acre greenfield
site of a planned ‘customs clearance centre’ near Ashford by
Canterbury MP ; Cllr Dara Farrell, leader of the Labour Group on
Kent County Council and Ashford councillor; and representatives
of the Kent Chambers of Commerce.
The base in the Kent countryside will be used to process lorries
using the port at Dover from January. However, nearby residents
fear the lorry park will cause chaos on local roads and could
blight their homes with increased noise and air pollution.
According to industry estimates, UK companies doing business with
mainland Europe will have to absorb costs in extra bureaucracy of
between £7 billion and £13 billion year and fill in an estimated
215 extra customs declarations.
said:
“This giant lorry park will stand as a symbol of the Government’s
failure to plan properly for Brexit, with so little achieved in
four years and only five months to go before the end of the
transition period.
“Ministers need to explain how much this park will cost and how
it will operate, and reassure residents who understandably fear
it will make their lives a misery.
“When talked about relaxing planning laws, no one thought
he meant turning part of the Garden of England into a lorry park
the size of about 15 football pitches.
“The Prime Minister promised an 'oven-ready' deal and said there
would be extra cash for major projects. No one imagined that
meant concreting over the countryside to build a lorry park.”
