Disbelief at HO promise
Page 10
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• Hauliers are dismissing the Government's promises to exclude vigilant drivers from the impending fines designed to deter would-be smugglers of illegal immigrants—or careless operators whose trucks they break into. The hauliers claim these measures will not work in practice as it is almost impossible to prove the checks have been carried out.
The Government's latest line on the issue of penalties for hauliers is spelt out in a letter to Commercial Motor from Immigration Minister Mike O'Brien (see page 21). The letter comes in response to an article in CM which spelt out the difficulties of defending a trailer from organised smuggling rackets.
In his letter O'Brien confirms the fine of £2,000 per illegal immigrant will go ahead, as will the loss of the truck if a haulier cannot pay. But he promises to safeguard those hauliers who regularly check their trailers.
Brian Chelsea of JS Wilson asks how he is supposed to prove the trailers have been checked. "Do you get a Polaroid camera?" he asks. "Hauliers are just going to let them go if they find them."
John Bywater, from EJ Bywater European, says: "Once you get to Dover it's too late. People are changing trucks on the boats. Can you start checking them on the boat?"
And Gary Bayley from GB Bayley resents the checks. "It's just another unpaid duty," he says. "What they should do is get their continental counterparts to do the job."