Rachel Reeves – 2020 Comments on Customs Lorry Park in Kent

The comments made by Rachel Reeves, the Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, on 30 July 2020.

This giant lorry park will stand as a symbol of the Government’s failure to plan properly for Brexit, with so little achieved in four years and only five months to go before the end of the transition period.

Ministers need to explain how much this park will cost and how it will operate, and reassure residents who understandably fear it will make their lives a misery.

When Boris Johnson talked about relaxing planning laws, no one thought he meant turning part of the Garden of England into a lorry park the size of about 15 football pitches.

The Prime Minister promised an ‘oven-ready’ deal and said there would be extra cash for major projects. No one imagined that meant concreting over the countryside to build a lorry park.