Simon Clarke, chief secretary to the Treasury, tells BBC: ‘The idea that this is somehow just a British problem is fundamentally wrong’
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Although the Treasury minister Simon Clarke claimed this morning that Brexit was not a factor in the HGV driver shortage (see 10.14am), almost seven out of 10 voters disagree, according to Opinium polling published at the weekend.
New Observer / Opinium poll
Voters, including Leave voters, blame Brexit for the current HGV crisis.
68% think Brexit is completely / partly to blame.
24% think it is not really / not to blamehttps://t.co/MNn6yrCFFk pic.twitter.com/TOLHDVtGXX
This is from the Labour MP Karl Turner, a shadow justice minister, on Simon Clarke’s comment about Brexit not being a factor in the HGV driver shortage on the Today programme this morning. (See 10.14am.)
Lying again? @SimonClarkeMP must be honest. We had a shortage of 50K HGV drivers before we left the EU. We now have a shortage of more than 100K. 20K HGV drivers left when we left the EU and they have not returned. We must make Brexit work? https://t.co/ejVBKfmtcA