Entry-exit system would.have been utter carnage'

The planned 10 November introduction of the EU’s now-postponed entry-exit system “would have been complete and utter carnage” according to the leader of Dover District Council.

- SIMON CALDER

Kevin Mills, a councillor, was speaking at a special session of the House of Lords justice and home affairs committee, following last week’s postponement of the entry-exit system (EES).

With a month to go, interior ministers decided to postpone the introduction of the EES indefinitely and apply a staged approach.

Mr Mills said: “None of the infrastructure is ready. None of the IT is ready. It would have been complete and utter carnage. We are more than happy there has been a delay.

“Without EES we still see the town coming to a gridlock several times a year. You add this on to it, it’s a gridlock on steroids – and that’s what concerns us.

“If the Department for Transport are still saying they expect up to 14-hour delays, there’s a problem somewhere that needs to be addressed.

“In Dover, it’s not just the A20 – the whole town stops. Nothing moves. You see ambulances stuck in queues. Everywhere suffers, and if we don’t get this right it will backlog. And then it backs up into the rest of Kent.

“I can’t over-exaggerate the damage it does business-wise, to the community, to individuals, to the security of the country because staff can’t even get into work to secure the borders. That’s our problem.”

At the same session, a senior Eurotunnel official said the company was ready and the decision to postpone would cost it money after installing equipment at its Folkestone terminal.