Deal struck with EU countries to keep vital supplies flowing into UK

The measure will help maintain a steady supply of food and medicine between the three countries.

The Transport Secretary says a deal has been struck between the UK, Ireland and France to keep freight routes open during the coronavirus crisis.

The arrangement will help keep vital goods like food and medicine flowing between the three countries during the pandemic.

Appearing at today’s Downing Street conference Grant Shapps unveiled additional funding to keep planes, ships, trams and public transport running. He also announced measures which will see medical supplies delivered by drones.

The Transport Secretary said the trilateral deal to keep freight routes open will help ‘meet the needs of our countries during this difficult period’. He said he wanted Britons to be confident that they can get what they need when they go to the shops for essentials.

He added: ‘Operators on many of these routes have been under rising financial pressure due to falling demand.

‘Since many of them bring in crucial goods such as medicines, raw materials, and chemicals to purify water, it is important to guarantee the continuation of these services.’

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Despite the extraordinary circumstances Shapps said there would be no extension to the Brexit transition process to help simplify multilateral cooperation during the pandemic.

He said: ‘A lot of people voted for the manifesto saying that this is exactly what we’re going to do, and that we won’t entertain an extension to the transition period and that remains the case.

‘The best way of providing certainty to all businesses out there is to know that we’re not going to keep chopping and changing, that the transition period will end at the end of the year.’

Shapps said there were ‘tentative signs’ that progress is being made in the battle against Covid-19.

He added: ‘The continued operation of both passenger and freight transport is critically important to our resilience as a country.

‘So today I am announcing a new package of measures to ensure transport boosts our national response to Covid-19.’

He paid tribute to transport workers who have gone ‘above and beyond to keep the vital freight and passenger services running’.

Shapps added: ‘The actions I have announced today will ensure that transport can continue to serve the nation during this crisis, keep us supplied with everything we need to stay at home, yet also ensure that infrastructure required to emerge from this pandemic stands ready to serve us all when that time does arise.’

Shapps said the Government would keep ‘under review’ whether to introduce airport scanning for coronavirus.

He added: ‘As we come out of any of this and into the next phase at a future point, we will continue to keep the excellent medical and scientific advice we receive under review to say whether those procedures at airports should change.’

The Transport Secretary said countries including the US, which locked down flights early on ‘have not necessarily weathered the storm of the coronavirus any better’.

He added: ‘Although it must be part of the plan going forward I think it is probably more useful during the phase of test, track and trace that the Health Secretary was talking about yesterday.’

The Transport Secretary said the green light has been given for the trial of drones to deliver medical supplies.

He explained that earlier this year the Government awarded £28 million to Southampton and Portsmouth to deliver a future transport zone, with £8 million earmarked for testing the ability of drones being used to deliver goods.

The trials have now been fast tracked and the devices will be used to carry equipment to St Mary’s Hospital near Newport on the Isle of Wight.

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