A South West MEP has warned that the travel chaos experienced by thousands of air passengers to Europe this summer is a taste of what is to come post-Brexit [1]. The delays have been caused by tighter checks at some EU airports. Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West and Green Party speaker on Brexit, says this should serve as a ‘wake-up call’ for what lies ahead once we leave the EU. She said:
“We were promised that taking back control would lead to less red tape. But what we have seen this summer is the inevitability that greater control of borders will result in more not less bureaucracy and paper work.
“Once Britain leaves the EU, UK citizens will be covered by the same rules as Americans or Australians. This will mean everyone wanting to visit an EU country will likely be required to follow a process similar to applying for a visa, providing personal information including particulars about state of health, any criminal convictions and details of the purpose of travel [2].
“It is ironic that the delays experienced by the British travelling public have been so vociferously lambasted by the Brexit headbangers of the right-wing media [3]. Isn’t this exactly what they wanted? To take back control of our borders? Perhaps they naively believed that restrictions on freedom of movement would only apply to people they didn’t want to enter the UK, not UK nationals wishing to travel to the continent. Their reaction borders on the ridiculous, and this is another fine mess that Brexiteers are leading us into.”
Notes:
1. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/29/uk-border-customs-chaos-hit-hard-brexit