UK Politics

Sue Gray released a 12-page “update” on her investigation into Downing Street‘s rule-breaking parties during the Covid-19 lockdown on Monday 31 January but was prevented from releasing a fuller version by the Metropolitan Police announcing is own probe into the affair.That has now ended, with the Met issuing 126 fixed-penalty notices to 83 individuals, including prime minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak.Ms Gray is now free to submit her final report for publication, which is due to take place in the coming days. Ahead of its release, Mr Johnson finds himself under pressure to explain a “secret” meeting he held with Ms Gray, seemingly to discuss the dossier’s progress, while initial reports suggest it could include previously unseen photographs and contain “stinging criticism” of Cabinet secretary Simon Case, despite his not being fined by the Met.Here are the key points already revealed in her January update about the investigation and what she concluded at the time.• Firstly, the initial report is very short, just eight and a half pages long or 12 if you include a number of blank pages and the title page. This includes annexes simply re-stating the regulations at the time and the terms of reference of the inquiry. This short length may reflect the Met’s demand that key details be left out of the document. • The conclusion of the report simply says that “a number of these gatherings should not have been allowed to take place or to develop in the way that they did”. Ms Gray adds that “there is significant learning to be drawn from these events which must be addressed immediately across government”. Notably, she concludes that: “This does not need to wait for the police investigations to be concluded”.• Ms Gray says that it is “not for me to make a judgement on whether the criminal law has been broken” and that is properly a matter for the police. • She says the police have indicated to her that they are investigating parties 12 of the 16 reported parties, with the exception of those noted on 15 May 2020, 27 November 2020, 10 December 2020 and 15 December 2020. These four events were not thought to reach the threshold for criminal investigation.• The report also makes clear that Ms Gray considered that due to the police request that she not prejudice their investigation, she sees herself as “extremely limited in what I can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report setting out and analysing the extensive factual information I have been able to gather”. She also decided not to publish factual accounts of the events.• Ms Gray says that there was “too little thought given to what was happening across the country” by staff and that there “were failures of leadership and judgment by different parts of No 10 and the Cabinet Office at different times”.• She also believes that the “excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time”.• The civil servant also believes that the number of staff working at Downing Street has increased too quickly and that “the structures that support the smooth operation of Downing Street, however, have not evolved sufficiently to meet the demands of this expansion”. She says leadership in the department has become too fragmented – but does not criticise any individuals. More

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been shadowed by career-threatening scandal for months — but so far he has escaped unscathed.This week he faces one more threat to his political future: a comprehensive report into lockdown-breaching parties in government offices that is expected to be published within days.Senior civil servant Sue Gray is due to release her findings on “partygate,” the scandal over more than a dozen gatherings in Johnson’s No. 10 Downing St. residence and nearby buildings that took place when coronavirus restrictions barred people in Britain from mixing with others. Claims that Johnson and his staff enjoyed illegal office parties while millions in the country stuck to strict COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 have dogged Johnson’s Conservative government since they first surfaced late last year. Critics, including some within Johnson’s own ranks, have called for him to resign.Police investigated and said last week they had issued a total of 126 fines to 83 people. Most are thought to be junior staffers, but one 50-pound ($60) fine went to Johnson, for attending a surprise birthday party thrown for him in June 2020. That made him the first British prime minister ever found to have broken the law while in office.Johnson apologized, but insisted that he didn’t knowingly break the rules, saying “it did not occur to me” that the brief gathering was a party — a claim that drew derision from many.Police didn’t identify those who were fined, but Treasury chief Rishi Sunak, as well as Johnson’s wife, Carrie, have said they also paid fines for attending Johnson’s birthday party.While “partygate” threatened to topple Johnson’s leadership earlier this year, he has clung on to power, partly because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine diverted public and political attention. He got a reprieve when the Metropolitan Police told him last week that he wouldn’t be getting any further fines, even though he attended several of the events under investigation.Treasury minister Simon Clarke defended the prime minister on Monday, saying Johnson “had a fine for a slice of cake between meetings.”He said the context of the parties was a government under “extraordinary” pressure during the pandemic with people “working on questions of literally life and death” and operating under “exhausting strain.”Gray’s full report could renew pressure on Johnson if it heavily criticizes him and senior officials, or contains photos and other vivid evidence of Downing Street socializing.The government says it will publish Gray’s report in full once it is handed in.A partial version of the Gray report was published in January after police requested her to leave out details to avoid prejudicing police inquiries. The partial report didn’t name individuals, but it did criticize “failures of leadership and judgment” that allowed the parties to take place. About 30 people, including Johnson, have been contacted by Gray’s team over the past few days to warn them of the contents of the report before its publication.While the Gray report is closely watched, the civil servant’s scope for censuring Johnson is limited — and it’s unclear the extent to which its publication will help restore public trust in the Conservative government.On Friday, new questions were raised after British media reported that Johnson and Gray had met several weeks ago — though what exactly the two discussed is unclear. Defending Johnson on Sunday, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said Gray is conducting an “independent” investigation.“The prime minister has made it very clear that he has never intervened or will seek to intervene or interfere with the investigation,” Zahawi told the BBC.Opposition parties urged Johnson to explain why he held a “secret meeting” with Gray.“Public confidence in the process is already depleted, and people deserve to know the truth,” said Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the opposition Labour Party.Johnson also faces a separate inquiry by lawmakers about whether he knowingly lied to Parliament when he told lawmakers earlier that no laws had been broken at Downing Street. Ministers found to have done so are generally expected to resign. More

The Sue Gray report into the so-called “Partygate” scandal over lockdown rule-breaking during the pandemic, which rocked Westminster in late 2021 and early 2022, was finally released in heavily-redacted form on 31 January.Ms Gray was prevented from releasing a fuller version at the time by the Metropolitan Police announcing is own probe into the affair.That has now ended, with the Met issuing 126 fixed-penalty notices to 83 individuals, including prime minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak.The veteran civil servant is now free to submit her final report for publication, which is due to take place in the coming days.Ahead of its release, Mr Johnson finds himself under pressure to explain a “secret” meeting he held with Ms Gray, seemingly to discuss the dossier’s progress, while initial reports suggest it could include previously unseen photographs and contain “stinging criticism” of Cabinet secretary Simon Case, despite his not being fined by the Met.Below, you can read Ms Gray’s complete January findings in full. 1. On 8 December 2021 the prime minister asked the cabinet secretary to carry out an investigation into allegations reported in the media relating to gatherings in No 10 Downing Street and the department for education during November and December 2020.2. On 17 December 2021 the cabinet secretary recused himself from the investigation as a result of allegations concerning an online quiz held by his private office in the cabinet office on 17 December 2020 in 70 Whitehall. It was at this point that I was asked to lead this work.3. The terms of reference for the investigation were published on 9 December 2021. The primary purpose of the investigation was to establish a general understanding of the nature of the gatherings including: attendance, the setting and the purpose, with reference to adherence to the guidance in place at the time.4. Where there were credible allegations relating to other gatherings these could also be investigated.5. In line with those terms of reference the following events were in scope:15 May 2020; a photograph showing a number of groups in the garden of No 10 Downing Street;20 May 2020: a gathering in the garden of No 10 Downing Street for No 10 staff;18 June 2020: a gathering in the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall on the departure of a No 10 private secretary;19 June 2020: a gathering in the Cabinet room in No 10 Downing Street on the Prime Minister’s birthday;13 November 2020:a gathering in the No 10 Downing Street flat; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser;27 November 2020: a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser;10 December 2020: a gathering in the Department for Education ahead of the Christmas break;15 December 2020: a gathering in No 10 Downing Street for an online Christmas quiz;17 December 2020: a gathering in Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall to hold an online Christmas quiz for the Cabinet Secretary’s private office; a gathering in Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall on the departure of a senior Cabinet Office official; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a No 10 official; 18 December 2020: a gathering in No 10 Downing Street ahead of the Christmas break; 14 January 2021; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of two No 10 private secretaries16 April 2021; A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a senior No 10 official; A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of another No 10 official.Methodology6. There has been widespread public interest in, and concern about, a number of gatherings taking place in No 10 Downing Street and Whitehall during periods of national Covid restrictions, where their necessity for work purposes has been open to question. My task has been to establish, as far as possible, the facts surrounding these gatherings.7. In carrying out my investigation I have been supported by a small team of senior civil servants in the Cabinet Office, who have no connection with the events under examination and who are bound by the requirements of the Civil Service Code. We carried out interviews of over 70 individuals, some more than once, and examined relevant documentary and digital information, such as emails; Whatsapp messages; text messages; photographs and building entry and exit logs. This has also included searches of official records. As such, extensive substantive factual information is now available and has been compiled by me and my team to fulfil my obligation to establish the facts. The investigative work is now essentially complete.8. The Treasury Solicitor and Daniel Stilitz QC have provided independent advice as to the process.9. It is not for me to make a judgment on whether the criminal law has been broken; that is properly a matter for law enforcement. In line with my terms of reference I have been in regular contact with the Metropolitan Police as my work has progressed in order for them to take decisions on the gatherings under examination, including whether to launch their own investigation.10. The Metropolitan Police has now confirmed that as a result of information provided by the Cabinet Office investigation team, as well as assessments made by Metropolitan Police officers, they are investigating the events on the dates set out above with the exception of the gatherings on:15 May 202027 November 202010 December 202015 December 202011. The police have confirmed that on the basis of the information available the gatherings on these four dates are not considered to have reached the threshold for criminal investigation.12. No conclusions should be drawn, or inferences made from this other than it is now for the police to consider the relevant material in relation to those incidents. The police have also said this does not in itself mean that they will decide to take further action or that there has necessarily been a breach of the regulations.13. At the request of the police I have provided the material compiled in the course of my investigation relevant to the gatherings that they are now investigating. I have also been asked to retain all the other information collected in the course of this work, which I have confirmed that I will do. I will therefore ensure the secure storage and safekeeping of all the information gathered until such time as it may be required further. I will not be circulating the information internally within government, it has been provided in confidence to the Cabinet Office investigation team and it is important that this confidence is maintained to protect the integrity of the process.14. As a result of the Metropolitan Police’s investigations, and so as not to prejudice the police investigative process, they have told me that it would only be appropriate to make minimal reference to the gatherings on the dates they are investigating. Unfortunately, this necessarily means that I am extremely limited in what I can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report setting out and analysing the extensive factual information I have been able to gather. More

The Sue Gray report into the so-called “Partygate” scandal over lockdown rule-breaking during the pandemic, which rocked Westminster in late 2021 and early 2022, was finally released in heavily-redacted form on 31 January.Ms Gray was prevented from releasing a fuller version at the time by the Metropolitan Police announcing is own probe into the affair.That has now ended, with the Met issuing 126 fixed-penalty notices to 83 individuals, including prime minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and chancellor Rishi Sunak.The veteran civil servant is now free to submit her final report for publication, which is due to take place in the coming days.Ahead of its release, Mr Johnson finds himself under pressure to explain a “secret” meeting he held with Ms Gray, seemingly to discuss the dossier’s progress, while initial reports suggest it could include previously unseen photographs and contain “stinging criticism” of Cabinet secretary Simon Case, despite his not being fined by the Met.Below, you can read Ms Gray’s complete January findings in full. 1. On 8 December 2021 the prime minister asked the cabinet secretary to carry out an investigation into allegations reported in the media relating to gatherings in No 10 Downing Street and the department for education during November and December 2020.2. On 17 December 2021 the cabinet secretary recused himself from the investigation as a result of allegations concerning an online quiz held by his private office in the cabinet office on 17 December 2020 in 70 Whitehall. It was at this point that I was asked to lead this work.3. The terms of reference for the investigation were published on 9 December 2021. The primary purpose of the investigation was to establish a general understanding of the nature of the gatherings including: attendance, the setting and the purpose, with reference to adherence to the guidance in place at the time.4. Where there were credible allegations relating to other gatherings these could also be investigated.5. In line with those terms of reference the following events were in scope:15 May 2020; a photograph showing a number of groups in the garden of No 10 Downing Street;20 May 2020: a gathering in the garden of No 10 Downing Street for No 10 staff;18 June 2020: a gathering in the Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall on the departure of a No 10 private secretary;19 June 2020: a gathering in the Cabinet room in No 10 Downing Street on the Prime Minister’s birthday;13 November 2020:a gathering in the No 10 Downing Street flat; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser;27 November 2020: a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a special adviser;10 December 2020: a gathering in the Department for Education ahead of the Christmas break;15 December 2020: a gathering in No 10 Downing Street for an online Christmas quiz;17 December 2020: a gathering in Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall to hold an online Christmas quiz for the Cabinet Secretary’s private office; a gathering in Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall on the departure of a senior Cabinet Office official; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a No 10 official; 18 December 2020: a gathering in No 10 Downing Street ahead of the Christmas break; 14 January 2021; a gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of two No 10 private secretaries16 April 2021; A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of a senior No 10 official; A gathering in No 10 Downing Street on the departure of another No 10 official.Methodology6. There has been widespread public interest in, and concern about, a number of gatherings taking place in No 10 Downing Street and Whitehall during periods of national Covid restrictions, where their necessity for work purposes has been open to question. My task has been to establish, as far as possible, the facts surrounding these gatherings.7. In carrying out my investigation I have been supported by a small team of senior civil servants in the Cabinet Office, who have no connection with the events under examination and who are bound by the requirements of the Civil Service Code. We carried out interviews of over 70 individuals, some more than once, and examined relevant documentary and digital information, such as emails; Whatsapp messages; text messages; photographs and building entry and exit logs. This has also included searches of official records. As such, extensive substantive factual information is now available and has been compiled by me and my team to fulfil my obligation to establish the facts. The investigative work is now essentially complete.8. The Treasury Solicitor and Daniel Stilitz QC have provided independent advice as to the process.9. It is not for me to make a judgment on whether the criminal law has been broken; that is properly a matter for law enforcement. In line with my terms of reference I have been in regular contact with the Metropolitan Police as my work has progressed in order for them to take decisions on the gatherings under examination, including whether to launch their own investigation.10. The Metropolitan Police has now confirmed that as a result of information provided by the Cabinet Office investigation team, as well as assessments made by Metropolitan Police officers, they are investigating the events on the dates set out above with the exception of the gatherings on:15 May 202027 November 202010 December 202015 December 202011. The police have confirmed that on the basis of the information available the gatherings on these four dates are not considered to have reached the threshold for criminal investigation.12. No conclusions should be drawn, or inferences made from this other than it is now for the police to consider the relevant material in relation to those incidents. The police have also said this does not in itself mean that they will decide to take further action or that there has necessarily been a breach of the regulations.13. At the request of the police I have provided the material compiled in the course of my investigation relevant to the gatherings that they are now investigating. I have also been asked to retain all the other information collected in the course of this work, which I have confirmed that I will do. I will therefore ensure the secure storage and safekeeping of all the information gathered until such time as it may be required further. I will not be circulating the information internally within government, it has been provided in confidence to the Cabinet Office investigation team and it is important that this confidence is maintained to protect the integrity of the process.14. As a result of the Metropolitan Police’s investigations, and so as not to prejudice the police investigative process, they have told me that it would only be appropriate to make minimal reference to the gatherings on the dates they are investigating. Unfortunately, this necessarily means that I am extremely limited in what I can say about those events and it is not possible at present to provide a meaningful report setting out and analysing the extensive factual information I have been able to gather. More

A minister has condemned briefings which claim the senior civil servant Sue Gray is “playing politics” in the handling of the publication of her long-awaited reporting into rule-busting parties in No 10.It comes as Boris Johnson and his top team braces for the publication of the Whitehall mandarin’s internal report, which will reportedly contain photographs of some of the events held during Covid regulations.But amid a row over whether Ms Gray or No 10 instigated what has been described as a “secret meeting” to discuss the report, the prime minister’s “allies” have accused the civil servant of playing politics.“Sue Gray is supposed to be neutral but she’s been busy playing politics and enjoying the limelight a little too much,” one said, according to the Daily Mail.Appearing on Sky News, the chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke, said he condemned the briefing, claiming: “By repute she’s one of the most fiercely independent and professional civil servants in the whole of government. I don’t think there’s any politics”.“Do I think in anyway the integrity of this report should be questioned? No because as I say Sue Gray has a reputation that dates back decades in terms of her ability to make judgements without fear of favour.”Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, added: “Desperate efforts to discredit Sue Gray are entirely predictable behaviour from this disgraceful excuse for a prime minister.“He doesn’t have a single scrap of integrity — and we all know it. He attempts to drag decent people down with him will backfire”.Pressed on a row over who called the meeting between Ms Gray and Mr Johnson — around one month ago — Mr Clarke said it was his understanding it was “instigated” by the senior civil servant.He continued: “There are lots of practical questions here that need to be bottomed out in terms of, for example, who can be named in this report and the extent to which photographic evidence can be included. It is important that those practical dimensions are resolved.”Mr Johnson is among around 30 people who have been told by Ms Gray that her report is likely to name them – with a deadline of 5pm on Sunday to lodge any objections having now passed.Publication is expected on Tuesday or Wednesday after the police investigation concluded with a total of 126 fines issued to 83 people, followed by a statement to the Commons by the prime minister.On Sunday, however, the education secretary Nadhim Zahawi, said he did not know who called the meeting after an embarrassing clash between Downing Street and Ms Gray’s team over the weekend. More

The UK is unprepared for huge food price hikes and shortages of essential goods that will be triggered by the Ukraine war, the head of a government advisory body fears.Ian Wright has told The Independent of growing concerns that there is no proper plan for a “scary” future of disrupted food supplies, warning: “This is a bigger crisis than energy.”Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports has left 25 million tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine – threatening famine in the poorest countries, but with stark implications also for the UK, which relies on food imports.Cooking oil, which is used in crisps, ready meals, biscuits and mayonnaise, has already been rationed, while rising fertiliser and animal feed prices are hitting domestic production.Supplies of donated food by charities and community groups – co-ordinated by an organisation with no government funding – will run out as millions more flock to lunch clubs and homeless shelters, it is feared.The looming crisis will come to a head at a crunch meeting of the Food and Drink Sector Council (FDSC) on Tuesday, when industry figures will demand to see what preparations are in place.Mr Wright said: “I don’t think the government has fully grasped the implications of all this. Things could get quite scary, with significant price rises and in terms of food poverty.“A lot of people involved with the food industry think this issue now requires greater urgency and focus from the government to ensure the country gets the food that it needs.“This is a bigger crisis than energy. If the government has plans, it needs to share what those plans are more widely.”The fears were echoed by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the food redistribution organisation FairShare, which accused ministers of allowing 2 million tonnes of edible food to go to waste every year.Minette Batters, the NFU’s president, said successive governments had neglected food production, warning: “That was short-sighted. It’s now looking immoral.“We can and should be producing more, for at home and abroad. We just need a proper food strategy adopted by government.”The criticism comes after consumer champion Martin Lewis warned soaring household fuel and food bills could spark riots, saying: “I worry about civil unrest.”Boris Johnson has been urged to copy Joe Biden by organising a “hunger summit” to focus attention on the crisis – but No 10 has yet to reply, The Independent can reveal.Ministers have also ignored pleas, by two Commons committees, to appoint a “food poverty minister” to drive through cross-departmental action to ensure supplies.On Tuesday, food and farming minister Victoria Prentis, and her officials, will be urged to show evidence that the government knows which supply chains are most likely to break down because of the Ukraine blockade.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is also under pressure to boost “homegrown food”, by protecting farmgate prices for farmers hit by rising fertiliser and feed bills.Although the UK supplies 60 per cent of its food, that is a yearly average – and the proportion drops closer to 40 per cent as winter approaches.A third strand of the strategy should dramatically boost donated food, it is argued, in anticipation of hundreds of thousands more people needing it in the months to come.Lindsay Boswell, FareShare’s chief executive, told The Independent: “More than 2 million tonnes of edible food is wasted on farms and in factories every year – food that could be stopping people from going hungry.“But the UK government isn’t funding food redistribution. So, it’s cheaper for farmers to waste good-to-eat food than get it to on to people’s plates.”A study has shown wider benefits of £14 for every £1 spent on reallocating food, but – unlike in France, where there are tax incentives – FairShare relies on charitable and corporate funding.Last week, the Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned of an “apocalyptic” impact from the Ukraine conflict, telling MPs there is “no way of shipping the food out and it’s getting worse”.Mr Wright, the former head of the Food and Drink Federation, said Brexit – estimated to have pushed up food prices by 6 per cent – and Covid were just a foretaste of what is to come.“We are now likely to see the impact on food supplies of Putin’s plans to make things as difficult as he can for the west,” he warned.But Defra argued the UK has “a highly resilient food supply chain which has coped well in responding to unprecedented challenges”.“We are largely self-sufficient in wheat production, self-sufficient in beef, fully self-sufficient in liquid milk, we produce more lamb than we consume and we are also close to 100 per cent self-sufficient in poultry,” a spokesperson said. More

The UK’s isolation over its plans to tear up the Northern Ireland protocol has been underlined by a new US-EU alliance ruling out a renegotiation.A delegation of US politicians, led by a close ally of Joe Biden, agreed a joint statement with members of the European parliament following a meeting in Paris.It calls on Boris Johnson to abandon planned legislation to override the international agreement, arguing that the protocol “protects the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts”.In a press release following the interparliamentary meeting, congressman Brendan Boyle announced that a statement had been agreed upon, part of which reads: “We agree that renegotiating the protocol is not an option.”This latest development comes just hours after Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, resisted pressure to back down after hosting the US delegation at her country retreat of Chevening on Saturday.In stark contrast, she is understood to have insisted that the UK is “defending the Good Friday Agreement” – not endangering it – and warned that she would not let the “situation drag on”.The crisis threatens to provoke a hugely damaging trade war if the EU carries out its threat to retaliate for what it considers to be a breach of the deal the prime minister signed and hailed as “fantastic” in 2019.Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, has also warned that rewriting the protocol unilaterally will kill any lingering hopes the UK has of a free trade deal with the United States.The UK argues that the legislation is needed to remove trade border checks in the Irish Sea, and to persuade the Democratic Unionist Party to end its efforts to block the formation of a new power-sharing executive at Stormont.However, it goes much further than customs controls, as it includes measures that target the role of the European Court of Justice in overseeing disputes, as well as aiming to restore the UK’s prerogative to decide VAT rates.The EU insists it has put forward proposals to ease the burden of checks, and points to the UK’s refusal to sign up to common veterinary rules, which would reduce the need for much of the bureaucracy.Last week, the prime minister admitted he had signed up to the trade barriers created by the Northern Ireland protocol while hoping that the EU would not “apply” them.The proposed legislation has not yet been published, but is expected to be released within weeks – and could be voted through the Commons as early as next month.The US delegation is led by Richard Neal, a senior member of the Democratic Party in the House of Representatives, who called the talks with Ms Truss “frank”.He tweeted: “I urge good faith negotiations with the EU to find durable solutions for post-Brexit trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”Ms Truss posted: “We discussed our cast-iron commitment to the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement, the importance of free trade and our condemnation of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.” More

A crisis relief charity offering emergency help after earthquakes, hurricanes and floods is being drafted in to ease the suffering of lorry drivers stuck in post-Brexit queues.RE:ACT Disaster Response also works in war-torn Afghanistan and Ukraine – but has now signed a deal with Kent County Council as it struggles with gridlock at the Port of Dover.Drivers spend many hours in their cabs because of the mountain of red tape created by Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, which brought frictionless trade with the EU to the end.The truckers have been left without access to toilets, food or drink on the M20 and M2 – previously sparking protests about some relieving themselves by the roadsideCouncil chiefs fear the problems are about to get worse, as tourists unable to travel because of the Covid pandemic are free to head off on summer holidays again.Up to 50 days of gridlock are now expected every year – prompting the signing of the £158,000 six-month contract with RE:ACT, which was set up by a former Army commander.A statement announcing the deal reads: “Kent County Council has long accepted that it has a duty to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need.”It adds: “A direct award was used due to reasons of extreme urgency,” explaining why normal contract rules have been bypassed.RE:ACT has come to the aid of flood victims in South Africa, people affected by hurricanes in Mozambique and the Bahamas and refugees from Ukraine.A spokesperson for the charity said it would provide help to drivers “in the rare times traffic is held so long the occupants need additional food and water”.But the Road Haulage Association has raised fears it will be “dangerous’ to approach truckers while traffic moves very slowly, as it does most of the time.A Kent County Council spokesperson said: “As a responsible local authority, we have long had plans in place for delivering aid to drivers caught in significant disruption, where it is safe and practical to do so.“To do this, we routinely work with organisations experienced at working in emergency situations and on live motorways.” More