‘We have NEVER been part of the Schengen!’ James Cleverly blames NOT Brexit but French

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The Port of Dover has seen massive queues over the last few days with both sides blaming each other for the disruption. While the UK Government blames France for the lack of custom officers at the border to process passports, the French Government blamed the Brexit deal the UK Government has chosen.

When asked who is to blame, James Cleverly told Sky News: “I think that Liz (Truss) was absolutely right when she said that the pressures ultimately can be resolved on the French side.

“It seems that they don’t have enough people to man the checks. 

“We have always borders. Anyone that’s crosses int France will know that we’ve always had checks at the border. 

“We’re not part of the Schengen area.”

Sky News’ Kay Burley said: “But they’ve been waived through most people with the odd passports being checked. That’s not the case anymore.”

Mr Cleverly said: “And there’s every reason that that could continue. Because as I said, we’ve not been part of the Schengen area, never been part of the passport-free area.

“There have always been checks. The fact that there are taking so much longer now is causing these problems.

“That can and should be resolved. Liz has been talking with her opposing number about this very issue.

“I know Grant Shapps has been speaking with his opposing number in the Transport Department in France.

James Cleverly suggested that the French are to blame for massive queues in Port of Dover (Image: GETTY)

Sky News’ Kay Burley asked if it was the fault of the French (Image: YOUTUBE/@SKYNEWS)

“So, we are working to get this resolved,” Mr Cleverly said.

“But ultimately, this is something that we need the French authorities to increase the number of people doing those checks.”

Sky News’ Kay Burley pressed: “So, is it the fault of the French?”

Mr Cleverly hit back: “Wekk, what I want to do, is resolve this issue. Well, I’ll tell you what, I’m no lonnger Europe minister. I’m in the education ministry. 

“But ultimately, I think the priority is to get this resolved and to make sure we don’t do anything to make it worse.

James Cleverly explained that the UK has never been part of the Schengen area (Image: YOUTUBE/@SKYNEWS)

“And I think the best way of doing that is to do it with our French counterpart rather than getting into a kind of blame game.”

When pressed on the post-Brexit passport checks, he insisted the UK has never been part of the Schengen zone. 

Sky News’ Kay Burley pressed: “Have you ever driven through that border? 

Mr Cleverly fired back: “Loads of times.”

Sky News’ Burley hit back: “So you know that you’ve gone through without your passport being checked.”

Sky News’ Kay Burley and James Cleverly discussed who is responsible for Port of Dover disruption (Image: YOUTUBE/@SKYNEWS)

Mr Cleverly repeated: “We’ve never been part of the Schengen area. There’s always been a necessity for border checks. 

“How those checks are done should and could be pragmatic because we are no greater risk now than were were when we were a member state of the European Union prior to 2019.”

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