11.50
Two interesting takes on the migrant situation here.
Firstly, Nigel Farage speaking on London's LBC talk radio station:And secondly, the Freight Transport Association's Natalie Chapman speaking on Kent radio station kmfm:
11.08
The on-going situation in Calais will be addressed in the Commons later.
Shadow home office minister David Hanson has been granted an urgent question.
A Home Office minister will take MPs' questions after Prime Minister's Questions at around 12.30pm.
10.57
This should explain some of the figures being bandied about in relation to the migrant crisis:10.42
The hundreds of UK-bound truckers of stuck outside the port in Calais are getting increasingly frustrated and worried about their safety.
One driver tells Sky News some migrants have knives "and they're not afraid to use them".
Another, Pete Alexander, from Rotherham, said: "It's a nightmare."
Mr Alexander said several migrants broke the padlock to his trailer earlier on Wednesday in an attempt to get on board.
"They snapped it off in two seconds," the driver told Sky News.
"They climbed in the back but there was nowhere to hide so they got back off again."
"It's just frustrating, everybody's frustrated, we're just stood here."
Donald Armour, the Freight Transport Association’s international affairs manager, has warned that hauliers were "really, really worried" that a migrant or lorry driver could be seriously injured.
"There is a lot of fighting between the migrants who all want to be on the best part of the road to get on to the lorries,” he said. “The situation is worse than it has ever been."
10.28
This picture of a man wedged under a lorry in Calais today shows the increasingly desperate efforts migrants are making to get across the Channel:
10.23
An update on what is happening in Kent.
Police said that phase two of Operation Stack, in which parts of the M20 in Kent are used for lorries queuing for the port of Dover, will remain in place until the backlog of traffic has cleared, with non-freight traffic being diverted onto the A20 from junction eight (Hollingbourne) and rejoining the motorway at junction nine (Ashford West).
Kent Police reminded lorry drivers that those at the front of the queue would get a ticket to continue their journey to the continent.
Those who use the diversions for non-freight traffic in an attempt to get closer to the front, and who do not have a ticket, will be sent to the back of the Operation Stack queue, police said.
10.19
More pictures are coming in now of what is happening in Calais. More of the same it looks like, migrants clambouring all over lorries:
A migrant in Calais goes inside a lorry to attempt to cross the English Channel
10.18
Victoria Ward, who is at St Pancras, reports that it has just been announced anyone without a booking shouldn't bother turning up at the station today now.
A Eurostar announcement over the tannoy said: "There is no availability for any trains to Paris today and very limited availability for trains to Lille and Brussels."
10.12
Dan Hodges, Political Commentator at The Telegraph, give his view on the Calais migrant crisis to Share Radio, among other issues:
Dan Hodges, Political Commentator at The Telegraph, give his view on the Calais migrant crisis to Share Radio, among other issues:10.10
The chaos continues at Calais:
Just watched 2 migrants climb on top of stationary truck and use knife to cut their way into roof of trailer. #Calais
— Paul Adams (@BBCPaulAdams) June 24, 2015
10.02
More tales of woe from those forced to sleep overnight at St Pancras:
Cyriane Oget, 19, had cycled from Paris to London with her friend (who was fast asleep against a wall wearing an eye mask) on Sunday and were due to get the train back yesterday.
She told Victoria Ward: "It was just a nightmare because we didn't know what was going on.
"We were told to rebook online but the internet didn't work. Eurostar did say if we stayed in a hotel and kept the receipt we could get a refund but we wanted to stay at the station as we didn't have a train booked and didn't know what would happen this morning.
"There were a lot of French people here overnight. We're now booked onto a 1pm train so at least we know we'll get home."
10.01
Not everyone complained of poor communication from travel companies regarding yesterday's disruption.
Gillian Perry from Milton Keynes told Henry Samuel the information from Eurotunnel's emergency help desk on the UK side of the Channel had been "superb".
"We were on the M20 between junction 8 and 9 and supposed to get on an 6.20pm train to Calais, but when we spoke to the help desk, they suggested we wait as there was no movement. We rang back and they said it was moving again.
"They were right as we only had to wait two hours and got the 8.10 train to Calais and stayed the night in a hotel this side."
09.54
More problems on the cross-Channel ferries. After reporting earlier that services were running smoothly, DFDS Seaways UK says:
09.49
Relief for Nigel Farage fans: the Ukip leader has made it back to St Pancras after catching the first Eurostar service this morning.
Like thousands of others he was stranded in Brussels overnight, although this morning there was a delay of just 15 minutes to his service.
He told our Senior Political Correspondent Steven Swinford: "I have never seen a Eurostar from Brussels that was full but this one as full to bursting. It was alright though. Compared to people that have been stuck on the motorway for 15 hours it was not too bad.
"The more serious situation is the migrant crisis in Calais which has become genuinely dangerous. I came through five weeks ago and there were migrants running across the motorway and hundreds by the side of the road.
"You just lock the doors and think crikey this is not good. The EU appears to have made it clear that anyone who wants to come [to Britain] can do so."
09.46
The Prime Minister updates Twitter with efforts to resol
No comments:
Post a Comment