Treasury minister branded 'ridiculous' after
claiming HGV driver shortage nothing to do with Brexit
Simon
Clarke, the new chief secretary to the Treasury, was giving interviews on
behalf of the government this morning and he insisted that Brexit had nothing
to do with the shortage of HGV drivers in the UK that has contributed to petrol
stations running out of exchange. He was speaking to Justin Webb on the Today
programme, and here is the key exchange.
SC: The
difficulties we are facing are not unique to this country. The idea that this
is somehow just a British problem is fundamentally wrong. There’s a shortage of
400,000 HGV drivers across Europe.
We share
that problem. It’s driven in part by workforce demographics, it’s worsened by
Covid restrictions.
JW: And
worsened by Brexit. That’s just a fact.
SC: Well,
no. It’s not a fact.
JW: Really?
It’s not a factor at all?
SC: The
fact that we want to control immigration, the fact that we need to ...
JW: I
understand why we did it, and we may still be keen on doing it. But, in the
short term, it has [led to labour shortages]. Why can’t we just be plain about
it? We would be in a better position vis-a-vis HGV drivers if we had not at
least left the single market.
SC: No, I
really don’t accept that. We have a problem that we need to fix, but one that
is shared by other European countries too. The idea that this is about Brexit
is to try and take us back into what is really, I’m afraid, quite a negative
conversation around opportunities forgone when, if you look at the situation in
Germany, if you look at the situation in Poland, if you look at the situation
in France, they share these problems too.
In fact
only this week Olaf Scholz, who is favourite to become the next German
chancellor, said the situation inn the UK was worse than in EU countries and
that Brexit to blame.
The causes
of the driver shortage in the UK are complicated, and no one factor is solely
responsible. But outside circles where belief in the wisdom of Brexit is an
article of faith (and that includes the cabinet), there is a virtual consensus
that Brexit is a factor. My colleague Lisa O’Carroll published an analysis
explaining that here, and this briefing (pdf) from the Road Haulage Association
says clearly that Brexit is a factor.
Clarke’s
argument has been described as “ridiculous” by Gavin Barwell, a Conservative
peer who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff when she was prime minister. He
posted this response on Twitter.
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