Are Port of Dover delays because of Brexit? Easter ferry chaos explained - what else is affecting the queues

Brexit could have contributed to the recent chaos at Dover, the government has admitted.

Passengers told of up to 14 hour delays at the Port of Dover this past weekend, with approximately 20,000 people caught up in a huge backlog as they waited to have their passports processed at border control. Those on coaches - including thousands of children heading to the French Alps on ski trips - were the worst affected.

A critical incident was as a result declared on Friday (31 March), and it stayed in place throughout Saturday and Sunday despite extra ferries being used in an attempt to tackle the disruption. On Monday (3 April), the port confirmed that all traffic had been processed through immigration controls - declaring in a statement that “the critical incident has been stood down”.

However, theories about the cause of the delays have continued to circulate. When questioned over whether Brexit was one of the factors, Downing Street suggested that the “new processes” put in place after the UK’s departure from the European Union could have played a part.

Meanwhile, others have highlighted issues such as the start of the Easter school holidays, bad weather in the Channel, and a return to pre-pandemic passenger numbers. So what exactly is the reason that Dover saw such huge queues? Here’s everything we know so far - including whether Brexit is to blame.

What caused the delays at the Port of Dover?

When the port first declared a critical incident, it said the delays were “due to lengthy French border control processes” and “sheer volume” of passengers.

Later, Dover officials expanded the reasons for the queues - suggesting that they were the result of the port being hit by the “perfect storm”. This included the start of the Easter holidays, bad weather in the Channel, and a return to pre-pandemic passenger numbers.

The weather caused disruption to ferry journeys, while a return to pre-pandemic numbers coinciding with the start of Easter meant that there were simply more passengers than had been expected. Ferry companies added that they had received 15% more coach bookings than predicted - which slows things down as boarding coaches is more difficult than boarding cars.

Meanwhile, Tory MP Tory Loughton claimed that a lack of staff at the French border control was instead to blame. He told Times Radio: “It’s very fashionable to blame everything on Brexit. But the problem isn’t with the fact that passports are being more rigorously checked. That’s a good thing.

“The problem,” he continued, “is how many people we’ve got doing it” - as well as the fact that, in his words, there “were not sufficient border force people there from the French equivalent checking those passports.”

This viewpoint was backed up by some of the people stuck in the queues, who told the i that there were only a “handful” of border staff working, despite the busy holiday period.

Did Brexit contribute to the delays?

However, another factor contributing to the “perfect storm”, according to port officials, was Brexit - in particular, the new processes and “formalities” which have been introduced since the UK left the EU. Doug Bannister, chief executive of Port of Dover, said: “The difference of being in a post-Brexit environment means that every passport needs to be checked before a vehicle or passenger can cross into the European Union through France. It does make processing more challenging.”

Mr Bannister’s comments came after Home Secretary Suella Braverman rejected the idea of Brexit being a cause, telling Sky News on Sunday (2 April): “I don’t think that is fair to say that this is an adverse effect of Brexit. I think we have seen we have had many years now since leaving the European Union and there’s been, on the whole, very good cooperation and processes. But at acute times, when there’s a lot of pressure crossing the Channel, whether the tunnel or the ferries, then I think there’s always going to be a backup.”

Like Mr Bannister, Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer also refuted the comments made by Braverman. He told LBC: “Of course Brexit has had an impact – there are more checks to be done. That doesn’t mean that I am advocating a reversal of Brexit, I am not. I have always said there is no case now for going back in.”

But, he continued, “yet again we have got to the first big holiday of the year and we have queues, to the great frustration of many families trying to get out to have a well-earned holiday. I think my message to the government would be ‘get a grip’.”

Downing Street also weighed in on the debate. Speaking to The Times, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman echoed the words of Mr Bannister, saying he was aware that French border officials were “inspecting and stamping every single passport” - as is the case with all arrivals from outside the EU.

“My understanding is that there was a very high volume of coach traffic [and] there were adverse weather conditions, which resulted in longer queues than normal,” he continued.

Then, when asked whether Brexit was causing delays, the spokesman said: “We recognise there are new processes in place, that’s why authorities were given a long time to prepare for the new checks, including during the transition period. We are in discussion with our French counterparts about how we can further improve the flow of traffic.”

Why would Brexit still have an impact?

Some people are questioning why something like Brexit would still have an impact, when it seems to have happened so long ago.

But although the new post-Brexit border checks at Dover came into force on 1 January, 2021, at the time, international leisure travel was still significantly reduced because of the pandemic. This means that the impacts were delayed.

So, the port has suffered significant issues and delays at all peak times since last July — the first significant getaway since Christmas 2019. There are concerns therefore that both the Easter bank holiday weekend, which is typically one of the busiest travel periods of the year, and the upcoming summer holidays, will see similar levels of chaos.

But the Port of Dover has said a “full review” will be launched in the wake of last weekend’s chaos to ensure “improvements are made” ahead of these times.