Neil Mennie, Chairman of Kent Police Federation, reacts to reports that lorry drivers will need a permit to enter Kent after the Brexit transition

24 September 2020

“Prioritising demand and utilising precious and hard-working officers is quite simply a matter for the police not politicians”

Neil Mennie, Chairman of Kent Police Federation, reacts to reports that lorry drivers will need a permit to enter Kent after the Brexit transition period ends.

Speaking in the Commons today, Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said the Kent Access Permit system would be enforced by police and using cameras.

Neil said: “Increasingly of late politicians are giving guarantees to the public about what the Police will enforce as COVID rules and regulations are wheeled out at breakneck speed.

“We have heard about ‘extra’ officers on the streets enforcing the COVID laws. The phrase extra officers very rarely means what it suggests as colleagues will know.

“The tone seems to have shifted to more of an expectation around enforcement and more emphasis on the last E of the Engage, Explain, Encourage, Enforce strategy we have been using very wisely to date.

“Now here in Kent we hear about a potential extra demand on checking the validity of lorry paperwork to avoid chaos during our exit from the EU.

“The usual policing business of which there is a considerable amount can’t be stored in a convenient cupboard while both COVID and Brexit loom large.

“The process of prioritising demand and utilising precious and hard working officers is quite simply a matter for the police not politicians.

“Discretion is key to what our colleagues do and quite rightly so they will enforce when it’s judged by them to be appropriate.”