Helping hand from across the channel
A touching gesture of goodwill — bold French firefighters arrive in Dover with 10,000 Covid tests for stranded lorry drivers.
A team of 26 French firefighters has arrived in Dover, ready to test the thousands of drivers waiting to cross the channel, reports the BBC. The French Ambassador to the UK, Catherine Colonna, said the two countries were “neighbours, partners, allies and (yes) friends”.
The rapid-turnaround tests will help ease congestion at the port and hopefully enable drivers to make it home for Christmas. The welcome example of entente cordiale came as Westminster promised that ferries would sail on Christmas and Boxing Day to help unblock road routes and the Port of Dover.
Grants Shapps, UK Transport minister, welcomed the help, even though the UK government has set up four testing sites, and said: “…we’ve also got great cooperation by French firemen working with NHS test and trace and our brilliant military in a big effort to clear the backlog created by the French border closure.”
