France today continued to escalate the war of words with Britain over queues in Dover and Folkstone by insisting that Brexit, not a shortage of Galic border staff, is responsible for the chaos that threatens to destroy the summer.
Hundreds of thousands of people were delayed by between 21 and 30 hours over the weekend as they tried to cross the Channel at the start of the school holidays.
There were queues on the Kent coast again today but this weekend is predicted to be the busiest of the year - and since the pandemic ended - raising fears that long delays could return.
Yesterday Downing Street insisted it was not as a result of Brexit with senior MPs insisting France is being over-officious with passport checks because they are 'furious' that the UK chose to leave the bloc.
And now senior French politician Pierre-Henri Dumont, Republican MP for Calais, has again blamed delays on the UK's exit from the EU, telling BBC News it was 'an aftermath of Brexit' with more checks needed and claiming the Dover port is 'too small' with too few kiosks due to lack of space.
He also told The Times: 'There is a race to be the next prime minister and everyone is trying to say it is somebody's fault but this is clearly an aftermath of Brexit.' He also denied there was a shortage of French border staff after a short delay on Friday.
He said: 'They ran 24/7 but you had the same queues. That is the crystal clear proof that [British ministers] are lying. The excuses from the British government were silly because this will not change. It is the new reality.
'We need to co-operate more and more, but co-operation begins by not blaming someone else for your problems. France and the European Union did not ask for disruption. Those who asked were the British government.'
Dover: Queues built at the port this morning as France and Britain continue to row over who is to blame for the delays
The furious row between London and Paris over tailbacks at Dover and Folkestone continues as a senior French official taunted Britain by blaming queues on Brexit.
Francois Decoster, vice-president of the Haute-de-France region, which includes Calais, even suggested the UK should reverse the 2016 vote to leave the EU – or consider joining the bloc's borderless Schengen area.
He claimed Britain had gone back 30 years because of extra passport checks now being carried out in Kent on families heading abroad for holidays.
But the remarks sparked a furious backlash, with former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt accusing Paris of punishing Britain by under-staffing the border and refusing to consider relaxing EU red tape around checks.
By Martin Robinson, Chief Reporter08:45 BST 26 Jul 2022 , updated 09:07 BST 26 Jul 2022