The Road Haulage Association’s chief executive, Richard Burnett and national chairman, Andrew Howard, this week wrote to MPs urging them to avoid a no-deal Brexit at all costs. Anna Tobin reports

The letter warns MPs that businesses won’t be ready by 29 March and that a transition period is vital to help industry adapt to new arrangements and regulations. It states: “An implementation period gives time for vital new processes and systems to be put in place across the supply chain, such as efficient new border technology to avoid disastrous queues at Channel and North Sea ports and across the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.”

Eleven thousand lorries cross the Channel daily; a two-minute customs check would lead to a 20-mile traffic jam and bottlenecks at ports. The letter says that there had been “complacent failure” across Government departments for a lack of understanding of the vital role haulage plays in the economy and urges  MPs not to believe reassurances that preparations are advanced and well developed.

The full letter can be read here

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