/ world today news/ Due to an acute shortage of truck drivers, the British port of Felixstowe cannot handle the unloading of containers, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. Nearly 100 thousand of them have accumulated there, which is 50% more than usual. There is a queue of waiting ships at sea that cannot dock. After Brexit, such problems with shortages of staff or goods in the UK have increased significantly, the German newspaper noted.
Felixstone, the largest cargo port in the UK, where goods from all over the world arrive, cannot cope with the unloading of containers, Süddeutsche Zeitung reports. This is due to the lack of truck drivers. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, many migrant workers returned to their home countries in the EU. Due to the fact that Britain had withdrawn from the union, it would have been much more difficult and expensive for them to return, so they chose not to return.
As a result, almost 100 thousand containers have accumulated in Felixstone, which is 50% more than usual, and the management is ready to give “half a kingdom for a driver“. There are ships in the sea that cannot dock. Some of them go further to Rotterdam or Hamburg.
After Brexit, problems of this kind in Britain are increasing, notes the German newspaper. There is a lack of goods and personnel everywhere. The situation is not dangerous for everyone, but it is surprising that such a rich country has to deal with a deficit in so many areas.
Some blame not only Brexit for what is happening in Felixstowe, but also that the operation of the port is very poorly organized. They say there were logistical problems before leaving the EU, which have only gotten worse since. Also, the pandemic has become a big problem. It, as the Prime Minister of the country Boris Johnson emphasizes, has a global character.
And indeed, there is a real shortage of truck drivers in rich countries, the newspaper admits, but in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, for example, there are no empty shelves, queues at gas stations and crowded ports.
The local population in Felixstone is unhappy with the way things are going. What’s more, most of it was initially opposed to Brexit, as it realized it threatened the port’s operations. But the majority of the country’s citizens still decided that it should leave the EU.
The fact is that nostalgia for the days of the British Empire still lives in the British. It was she who fueled the campaign to leave the European Union. It is no coincidence that the country’s authorities are talking about a “global Britain” that will conquer the world, but not with the help of warships, but with good arguments, which in turn will provide it with trade agreements. For example, Johnson dreams of agreements with India and the US, but they are as far away as Felixstone to Delhi and Washington, the German publication concludes.
Translation: ES
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