A practice run for a no deal Brexit traffic jam turned into a farce today as just 89 lorries were used to simulate thousands being delayed by potential chaos at Dover.
Manston airfield near Ramsgate in Kent is being tried out as a mass HGV holding bay to ease congestion on roads to Channel ports.
Just 89 lorries took part in a practice run during morning rush hour - fewer than the 150 lorries promised when the test was announced on Friday and a fraction of the 4,000 which could use the site in a no deal emergency.
Each driver was paid £550 for their time - making the cost of today's test at least £48,950.
The exercise was ridiculed today as a 'taxpayer funded farce' by critics today who said it was 'plain stupid' to manufacture a traffic jam to appear ready for no deal.
Haulage experts said the test was 'too little too late' and warned 89 lorries was nowhere near enough to simulate the impact of thousands.
The test at the disused airfield comes as no-deal preparations are ramped up amid bitter deadlock over Brexit in Parliament.
The idea behind the runs at 8am and 11am was to 'establish the safest optimum release rate of HGVs' from the airfield to Dover along the A256.
The chances of the UK crashing out have risen dramatically as the PM faces the prospect of disastrous defeat in a vote next week on the deal she has thrashed out with the EU.
Manston airfield near Ramsgate in Kent is being tried out as a mass HGV holding bay to ease congestion on roads to Channel ports
Some 89 lorries took part in a practice run during morning rush hour and again at 11am to 'establish the safest optimum release rate of HGVs' from the airfield to Dover along the A256
Under no deal plans, lorries would first be parked on the M20 to Ashford before being diverted to Manston Airfield (pictured)
Each driver was paid £550 for their time - making the cost of today's test at least £48,950
Hundreds of MPs - including more than 20 Tories have signed a letter urging Theresa May to rule out a no-deal Brexit if her package is defeated.
But Eurosceptics including Boris Johnson are demanding that the PM pushes on to take the UK out of the bloc even if there is no agreement in place.
Mr Johnson used his Daily Telegraph column to dismiss 'downright apocalyptic' messages about a Brexit on World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms, arguing that people could 'sort fact for nonsense'.
Nearly 100 lorries arrived at Manston Airport near Ramsgate in Kent early on Monday morning to line up along the runway before driving along the A256 towards Dover.
The trial, called Operation Brock, is testing out the site as a mass HGV holding bay to ease congestion on roads to Channel ports.
Road signs were erected on Sunday night directing drivers to the test. Lorries from regional and national haulage companies - with Eddie Stobart leading the pack - started to arrive at the airfield from around 7am on Monday to form a queue along the runway.
The drivers congregated in a large group before being directed by officials from the Department for Transport (DfT),
Liberal Democrat Layla Moran ridiculed the exercise today as a 'taxpayer funded farce' by critics today who said it was 'plain stupid' to manufacture a traffic jam to appear ready for no deal
Kent County Council and police officers. The first practice run began in rush-hour shortly after 8am, with four convoys leaving at intervals between 8.13am and 8.39am.
The first of the convoys arrived in Dover at 8.52am. Up to 150 lorries were initially anticipated to take part. So far 89 have been involved, the DfT confirmed after the first test on Monday morning.
Liberal Democrat Layla Moran, a supporter of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign, said: 'This is a taxpayer funded farce. No deal doesn't need to be a real prospect but the government are just throwing money down the drain for effect.
'Chris Grayling and his department have spent tens of thousands to create the spectacle of vehicles in a traffic jam to get into a disused airport , who then wait on the site for the green light to then create a traffic jam by snaking their way, interested in convoy, to Dover.
'The idea that creating a fake traffic jam will show the EU we are ready for no deal is just plain stupid.
'On days like this you have to think the UK has made a wrong turn somewhere.'
Former Labour Transport Minister John Spellar told the Standard: 'This is another farce. Chris Grayling has given a shipping contract to a company that has no ships – and now he's held a lorry test without trucks.
'He is starting the year with the same incompetence as he ended 2018.'
Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett said: 'Of course it's good to have a plan in place but today's limited scope trial will need to be repeated to stress-test other aspects of the management of thousands of lorries properly.
'Today's trial cannot possibly duplicate the reality of 4,000 trucks that would be held at Manston airport in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
'It's too little too late - this process should have started nine months ago. At this late stage it looks like window dressing.'
The government has paid lorry firms to take part in the trial run of using the airfield today
The test at the disused airfield comes as no-deal preparations are ramped up amid bitter deadlock over Brexit in Parliament
A DfT spokeswoman said: 'We do not want or expect a no-deal scenario and continue to work hard to deliver a deal with the EU.
'However, it is the duty of a responsible Government to continue to prepare for all eventualities and contingencies, including a possible no deal.
'We will be testing part of Operation Brock to ensure that, if it needs to be implemented, the system is fully functional.'
Congestion at the Channel ports caused by the reintroduction of customs checks on goods has been one of the most commonly cited negative effects of a no-deal withdrawal from the EU at the end of March.
Also known as Kent International Airport, the site closed in 2014 after owners could not find a buyer.
Former Conservative Party chairman Lord (Chris) Patten told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that Mrs May's 'rather miserable but gallant deal' should be 'put out of its misery as soon as possible'.
He denounced the attempt to persuade MPs that the PM's deal was the only way to avoid a no-deal Brexit as a 'Doctor Strangelove argument'.
'I think it's pretty irresponsible to think that you can get a bad deal through by that sort of threat,' said Lord Patten.
'There used to be the Doctor Strangelove argument that sometimes you could threaten people with doing crazy things in order to get them to back down. That's really what's being suggested at the moment.
Lorries were seen queued up at the airfield, which could be used as a holding point if there is a disorderly exit from the EU
'I don't think Mrs May actually thinks that it makes any sort of sense whatsoever to go ahead without a deal.'
The exercise being carried out on Monday at Manston airfield in Kent to test the resilience of the transport network to a no-deal Brexit was 'enough to make one weep', he said.
Lord Patten said that the House of Commons must reject as 'snake oil' the option of a 'managed no-deal' plan and instead vote to extend or revoke Article 50 to allow more time to work out a 'sensible' future relationship with the EU.
'If we can't do that by getting a majority for staying within the single market and customs union, then I think we have no alternative but to go back to the people for another vote,' he said.
He added: 'I don't like referendums, but we got into this miserable shambles because of a referendum, and it may be the only way we can get out of it.'
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Main photo article A practice run for a no deal Brexit traffic jam turned into a farce today as just 89 lorries were used to simulate thousands being delayed by potential chaos at Dover.
Manston airfield near Ramsgate in Kent is being tried out as a mass HGV holding bay to ease congestion on roads to Channel ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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