As many as 37,259 people participated in the poll, which was launched on the Daily Express website earlier this week. A whopping 86.6% blamed Brexit, with the remainder saying employers were at fault.
The result must admittedly be taken with a heavy pinch of salt, particularly as it was hijacked by people who almost never visit the Daily Express website. The binary choice presented to readers arguably didn’t help either. Nevertheless, even when taking those factors into account, the one-sided nature of the results suggests that more Express readers believe Brexit is to blame than one would normally assume.
Suggestions of a link between the UK driver shortage and Brexit have nonetheless angered a noticeable contingent of lorry drivers, who point to poor pay, working conditions and facilities as the most important factors.
Some commentators have also correctly pointed out that there are heavily reported shortages of drivers in EU countries as well. Indeed, a recent report by Transport Intelligence has found that Germany is short of between 45,000-60,000 drivers. The issues referred to above are often listed as the reason for shortages on the continent too.
However, there have been virtually no reports within the EU of any of the severe supply chain issues that have recently affected UK supermarkets, pubs and restaurants. This, in many people’s eyes, ultimately means that Brexit must have played a major role in the UK’s acute driver shortage.
In the face of its reader poll not turning out as expected, the Daily Express posted the results within an article which used the words “Lorry driver shortages blamed on EU paperwork” in its title.
The reference to the paperwork in the title relates to a solitary trucker who told the Express that many lorry drivers “gave up driving” due to the hassle of having to obtain a CPC (Driver Certificate of Professional Competence qualification). The driver thus blamed “EU Legislation” for causing the driver shortage.
However, despite Brexit occuring, the UK Driver CPC training and recommendations made by the European Commission have been adopted by the UK Government. Therefore, the UK is now applying the EU’s CPC rules under its own will.
The release of the poll results follows criticism of the UK Government’s immigration policy from Conservative peer and Brexit supporter Lord Wolfson, who is the Chief Executive of clothing retailer Next.
Speaking to radio station LBC, Wolfson said it was “insane” that the Home Office “are still preventing people coming to this country to work as drivers.”
Lord Wolfson went on to say that the UK driver shortage wasn’t caused by Brexit, but rather “the way in which our immigration system is being run.”
The Chief Executive of Next then added: “I think there’s an enormous difference between having control over your immigration system, which I think we should have, and running that system well, which I’m not sure that we are.”
Before the end of the interview, Lord Wolfson was asked about EU drivers coming to work in the UK as truckers. In his reply, the retail boss suggested that drivers could come from further afield:
“Well not necessarily just European countries. I think we should be welcoming all people who want to work, who want to contribute to our economy and who have skills that we desperately need.”
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