The fuel crisis in the United Kingdom, a direct consequence of Brexit, according to Michel Barnier

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Britain’s growing fuel crisis, which has seen pumps run dry, is a direct consequence of Brexit, said former EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier.

Mr Barnier, a candidate for the French presidency, said the drastic shortage of truck drivers and persistent supply chain problems were due to the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

Part of the answer is linked, in fact, to the consequences of Brexit because the UK has chosen to end freedom of movement [of people], he said.

And there is a clear connection with the truck drivers, added Barnier.

In addition to free movement, the UK has chosen to leave the single market, which means the UK has decided to rebuild, for the very first time, non-tariff barriers between the EU and the UK -United. It is a direct and mechanical consequence of Brexit.

The French politician was speaking at a virtual event at the London School of Economics promoting his new book My Secret Brexit Diary, which details his time negotiating the exit deal on behalf of the Commission European.

The former Brexit negotiator also told BBC Newsnight that the Northern Ireland protocol cannot be abandoned and remains the only way to find a solution to all the problems created by Brexit.

Mr Barnier also claimed Mr Johnson knew exactly what he had signed when he negotiated the Brexit deal with the EU. What is creating problems in Ireland is Brexit, nothing else.

Despite his criticism of Britain’s decision to leave the EU, Mr Barnier has been accused of adopting Eurosceptic rhetoric in his bid to win the French presidency for the center-right Republicans.

He stunned his former colleagues in Brussels earlier this month by declaring it was time for France to regain lost sovereignty for the benefit of European justice, and called for a referendum to impose a five-year moratorium on the immigration to France from third countries.

Former Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, now the country’s trade minister, also said Brexit was largely to blame for fuel shortages and empty supermarket shelves in the UK.

We can see, in England, real difficulties because they left the single market, because they left the single labor market, you know, closed gas stations, worries about the products that are coming to them. ‘here Christmas, Mr Varadkar said on Monday.

I think some of the difficulties in Northern Ireland are less about the protocol than Covid and Brexit, but they all come together in one and the protocol is blamed.

It followed similar comments from Olaf Scholz, the man who looks set to replace Angela Merkel as German Chancellor.

We have worked very hard to convince the British not to quit the union. Now they have decided differently and I hope they will deal with the resulting problems, said the leader of the Social Democrats, referring to the shortage of drivers.

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