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Deal with them here
Page 3
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On the face of it, the RHAs idea of having Vosa officers in Calais has much going for it. We've already got UK Border Agency officials 'juxtaposed' on the French side of the Channel, so why not Vosa enforcement officers at Calais?
The argument goes that by having them at the main French point of embarkation, we could prevent overloaded and unroadworthy foreign trucks, driven by foreign drivers who aren't obeying drivers' hours law, from crossing the 22 miles of salt water and entering this 'Sceptred Isle'. And then what happens? Call us cynics, but somehow we can't see the French authorities rushing to prosecute a driver stopped in France by Vosa... especially if they were... urn... French.
While not wishing to sound like a bunch of Francophobes, there are plenty of UK operators and drivers who know from experience how 'effective' the French have been when it comes to tackling stowaways caught on UK-bound British trucks in French ports. Indeed, they've seemed only too willing to let the problem end up in Dover, rather than deal with it on their own turf. So much for fraternite...
Of course, what's sauce for the goose is sauce for le gander. Would we want European-bound British trucks being stopped by 'juxtaposed' French traffic officers in Dover? Mon Dieu! In truth, the best place to tackle illegal foreign-registered HGVs is over here, with permanently-staffed Vosa
enforcement zones in the main UK ports and backed by the full force of the Law. So why are we still waiting for this Government to give Vosa the power to immobilise illegal foreign vehicles, and charge foreign drivers a deposit against a no-show in court? The last time we heard the law was due in 2009. CM can't help but feel that the main obstacle to tackling illegal foreign trucks is actually on our side of La Manche, not their's.
Brian Weatherley